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Hello and welcome to the
Middletown Baptist Church Podcast,

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where we are proclaiming the
truth to the world.

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My name is Pastor Josh and I
want to thank you for listening to

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this podcast.

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I hope that this podcast can
be a blessing to you and strengthen

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you in the word of God.

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Now come along, let's look
into the Bible and see what God has

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for us here today.

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If you have your Bibles, we're
going to be in Psalm 40.

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So for the next, I would say,
month or so, we're going to be looking

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at Psalm 40.

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And there's only 17 verses
here, but it is so rich in its message.

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And when we get done with
Psalm 40, we're going to get into

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a book study, which I'll be
explaining in the next few weeks.

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But if you have your Bibles,
turn there with me to Psalm 40.

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And here in this psalm, as, as
you well know, David is praising

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God for what he has done for him.

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And obviously the, the psalms
are just that.

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They're worship.

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They're.

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They're songs that are
worshiping God.

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We know that David is not the
only psalmist in the, the whole book.

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There's many, many psalms here.

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If you counted them all up,
most of you know there's 150.

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And we can't go through the
whole book.

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We wouldn't have time to do that.

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But I think that Psalm 40 is a
great psalm because not only does

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it talk about how God directly
impacted David, but I do believe

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also that David is prophesying
about our salvation found in Jesus

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Christ.

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And so maybe you've heard this
phrase before, Messianic psalms.

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Messianic psalms are psalms
that are not only worshiping God

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in that moment, but also
prophesying of the Messiah that is

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to come in Jesus Christ.

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And there's plenty of those.

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You might be familiar with
Psalm 22 and others, but I do believe

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that Psalm 40 is also a
Messianic psalm because it speaks

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to the salvation that not only
we find just with trusting God, but

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specifically the salvation
that we find in trusting God through

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Jesus Christ.

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And so the Bible is full of
references to our salvation in the

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Old Testament and the New.

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By the way, sometimes we think
that the salvation that God extends

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to us is only found in the New Testament.

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And even though we know the
story of the Gospel in the New Testament,

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the Old Testament is rich with
references to the work of Jesus Christ.

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Even though it doesn't
explicitly say Jesus.

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We do know that there are many
opportunities for us to see the picture

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of God's grace in the Old
Testament, like we looked at this

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morning with Mephibosheth.

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And so it's important to
remember that the whole Bible is

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about God and his story and
the story of his redemption to us.

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And so it's a message to us.

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It's a message for us.

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And so for the next few weeks,
forever long, we're in this.

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I would like us to just dig
deep into Psalm 40 and pick apart

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this awesome passage of
scripture that I believe applies

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to us as it applied to David
so long ago.

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And as we go through this,
you're going to.

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I. I believe you're going to
see this, this psalm of praise to

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God for his deliverance, for a
picture of the ultimate deliverance

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in salvation.

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And I believe it's our goal as
a church to proclaim the gospel,

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to live the gospel.

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And I think it'll benefit us
to learn what God did for us and

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how we can share it with other people.

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And so we're going to go verse
by verse, and we're going to contemplate

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what God did for us and how we
can proclaim this to people around

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us.

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And so I would like you to
make this study personal.

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I'd like you to inspect it
here in this time, but also if you

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have time throughout your week
to read through Psalm 40 and really

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meditate upon the words of
that we're reading here.

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And ultimately, God wanted us
to take into our heart and apply

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to our lives.

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And I want you to.

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I want to pause here, and I
want to talk just a moment about

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that word meditate.

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It's a word that we use in our
culture today, but not in the biblical

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context today.

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Sometimes when you hear the
word meditate or meditation, in,

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in a worldly sense, it's all
about emptying your mind and not

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filling your mind with
something of, of this world.

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And that's not what biblical
meditation is.

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Biblical meditation is
actually the opposite.

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It's dwelling upon something in.

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In this context, the dwelling
upon the word of God.

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So all of us, I think, know
how to dwell upon something in a

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negative way.

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At least I do.

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I'll sit there and think about
something over and over again and

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how I could have changed.

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I don't know any of you guys
have done this.

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I'll be sitting there in the
middle of the night.

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I'm about to go to bed, and
all of a sudden I start thinking

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about something I said like 10
years ago.

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And I'm like, why on earth did
I embarrass myself?

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And some of you are like, I
never think about that.

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I don't even think about what
I said five minutes ago.

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Me, I'm the type of person
that I look back and I'm like, man,

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why would I say that?

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Or I dwell upon something that
is to come.

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Like, oh man, I've got a
meeting in three weeks.

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What am I going to say in that meeting?

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How am I going to deal with that?

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So I think we all know how to
negatively dwell upon something that's

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not going to benefit us.

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It's actually unhealthy.

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The Bible term for this would
be meditation.

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Dwelling upon something that
is good, dwelling upon the word of

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God, chewing on it, getting
every nutrient that we can.

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And I think that's important
to do throughout our Bible study,

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throughout our Christian life.

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And so I want us to do that
here in Psalm 40.

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So let's look at verse number one.

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It says, I waited patiently
for the Lord and he inclined unto

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me and heard my cry.

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I think the first thing that
we can see here in verse one is that

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God is a personal God.

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He's a God who cares about us.

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He's a God who wants to meet
us and our needs.

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He's a God who not only knows
about what's going on in our life,

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but he wants to hear from us
what's going on and he wants to do

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something about it.

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I think this verse highlights
God's imminence.

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This term imminence
essentially means this, that he wants

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a personal relationship with us.

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He allows us.

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Think about it this way.

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God's blessing to us is that
he allows us to know Him.

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You ever had someone that you
just really couldn't crack their

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exterior?

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You're like, man, they're just
always are guarded.

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I can never really get to know them.

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I know them on the surface,
but I can't really seem to get to

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know them.

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That's not how God is with us.

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God doesn't just keep us at
arms length.

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God wants that personal relationship.

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And I think that's an amazing
fact in and of itself that he allows

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us to know him in a personal way.

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And so I could say here today,
like, how many of you know?

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And I could list a famous
person, we all would probably know

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of that person, but none of us
probably would know that famous person

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personally.

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Like I know them, I know their
likes, I know their dislikes, I know

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their secrets, I know everything.

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Well, the Bible says here in
this case that God doesn't just want

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us to know about him or, or
know of him, but to know him in a

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personal, personal way.

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And so David knew salvation.

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David knew deliverance only
comes from God.

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And so the question that I
would ask you here this evening is,

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are we willing to go to the
Lord and cry out to him in times

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of need, in times of
difficulty, I think for many of us,

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including myself, I run to
other things in time of need.

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I run to things that I think
are going to give me comfort or security

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or some kind of satisfaction
in time of need.

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But what does David do in the
midst of a difficulty?

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It says here, I waited
patiently for the Lord.

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And what happened?

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And he inclined unto me and
heard my cry.

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I think this is very similar
to the concept that we find in James,

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chapter four, verse eight,
when the Bible says, draw nigh or

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draw near to God and He will
draw near to us.

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God wants that personal relationship.

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And so the beautiful thing is
that he hears our cry and he pursues

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us.

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That that word there, inclined
means to stretch out.

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And so the Bible says we wait
patiently for the Lord.

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We.

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We call out to Him.

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We.

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We want that relationship with Him.

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And what does he do?

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He inclines unto us.

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He stretches out to us.

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And so just like Jesus
stretched out to Peter when Peter

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was walking on the water.

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You guys remember that story?

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Peter gets on the water and he
starts walking to Jesus.

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And everything's okay when his
eyes are on Jesus, but when he looks

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away, what happens?

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He falls into the water.

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But what does Peter do?

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He calls out to Jesus for
help, and the Lord reaches out for

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him.

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And so God reaches out to us
when we call out to Him.

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We don't have to have
everything in order in our lives

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to call out to him because
he's the one that gives us order.

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He's the one that gives us the deliverance.

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And so I think verse one tells
us that he hears our cry.

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And sometimes we're tempted to
think that God doesn't hear us.

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And sometimes we're tempted to
think that maybe if God doesn't respond

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to us the way that we're
expecting him to respond at the time

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that we expect him to respond,
that maybe he doesn't hear us or

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maybe he just doesn't care.

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But the Bible tells us here
that God does hear us and that he

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does care and that he meets us
in that time of need in the way that's

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best for us.

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He hears our cry.

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He inclines his ear to us.

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He comes to us in that time of desperation.

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Then we look at verse two, and
it says here, the result of him inclining

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himself to David and the
result of God reaching out to us

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is what what says in verse two.

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He brought me up also out of
an horrible pit, out of the miry

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clay, and set my feet upon a
rock and establish my goings.

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And so what this speaks to is
God's salvation and his sustaining

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grace in our life.

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And so if you think about it
this way, only God can save us and

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sustain us.

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The book of Hebrews tells us
that God is the Jesus, specifically

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is the author and finisher of
our faith.

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The way that you could say
that is he's the creator and the

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sustainer of our faith.

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And so he.

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He brings us up out of that
horrible pit and in this place.

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Sometimes we would think about
this being like a physical place,

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a horrible pit that we're in
in our life.

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And it could be that.

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But in the greatest sense, the
horrible pit that we were in was

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sin.

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We know we've been talking
about this a lot on Sunday mornings.

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For the wages of sin is death.

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We were in a horrible pit in
our sin.

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But the Bible says that when
we call out to God, he pulls us up

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out of that horrible pit, out
of the miry clay.

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And I think of that clay being
like quicksand, holding us down,

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holding us in.

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And so if we try to save
ourselves, if we try to help ourselves,

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we only cause more problems.

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But what the Bible says here
is that he brings us up.

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It's not our work, it's only his.

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And so there, there is this
fallacy today that God helps those

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who help themselves.

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And, and I can understand why
we say that, because sometimes we

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think, well, like, got to do something.

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Well, the only thing you have
to do is rely on God and trust in

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him.

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And he's going to be the one
that pulls you out.

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It's going to be his work.

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Now, that doesn't say that we
just sit down and be lazy in our

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life.

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There's a lot to be said about
not being a sluggard, as the book

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of Proverbs says.

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But if we think that something
that we do can work ourselves out

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of a problem, that's the place
where we get into a dangerous.

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A dangerous pit.

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And so what we can do is this.

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We can understand that it is
God who pulls us up out of the pit.

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It is God who pulls us out of
the miry clay.

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And so it's not pulling
yourself up by your own bootstraps,

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it's allowing God to pull you up.

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00:10:50,820 --> 00:10:52,020
I was watching this.

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I think I mentioned this before.

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I was watching this
documentary of animals.

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I like to Sometimes watch
these videos that speak of like different

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things that happen in the, in nature.

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And one of those things would
be like predators attacking prey.

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Don't ask me why, I enjoy that.

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But it's kind of interesting
to watch the lions and the leopards

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stalking their prey.

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Some of you are like, okay,
now I know something interesting

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00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:18,280
about Pastor.

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It's, it's God's creation, right?

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Okay, so we look at that.

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So, so one of the videos that
I watched, it was, it was like this

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gazelle or this little impala
looking deer thing and the animal

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00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:35,760
got caught in like this
really, it was like a old like pond

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or river area.

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And it was dried up enough
where there wasn't water, but it

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was still like really muddy.

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And this animal was running
away from the enemy.

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But he got stuck.

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And he was in that clay.

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And as much as he was fighting
to get out, he kept going back in

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farther and farther.

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And that was an easy target
for the predator to come.

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And the Bible does say that in
First Peter, Chapter 5, that Satan

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is like a lion, like a roaring
lion seeking whom he may devour.

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And a lot of times in our life
we get stuck in a situation and instead

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of relying on God to pull us
out, we fight against it.

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And ultimately we're like an
animal stuck in quicksand.

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We can't avoid the enemy.

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And so the more we work, the
deeper and the more stuck we get.

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And so he not only delivers us
from destruction and bondage, but

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then we see.

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What does it say there?

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00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:25,960
It says, he takes us out of
the miry clay and sets my feet upon

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00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:26,640
a rock.

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And so he takes us out of that
difficulty, but then he sustains

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us and he sets us on a solid rock.

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Now we know what the solid
rock is.

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We know the solid rock is our
relationship that is secure in Jesus

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Christ.

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00:12:40,590 --> 00:12:41,790
But then he takes the next step.

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What does he do?

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In verse two, it says that he
not only sets our feet upon a rock,

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a steady, sure foundation, but
then it says, and established my

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goings.

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00:12:52,910 --> 00:12:56,950
This is a beautiful picture of
God keeping our steps secure as we

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00:12:56,950 --> 00:12:58,430
move forward in our Christian life.

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00:12:59,470 --> 00:13:00,710
And so where does he place us?

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00:13:00,710 --> 00:13:02,430
He places us on a solid rock.

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00:13:02,510 --> 00:13:04,510
He secures us in his strength.

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00:13:05,310 --> 00:13:07,990
There's a lot of different
people with a lot of different hope

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00:13:07,990 --> 00:13:09,310
for their foundation.

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00:13:10,710 --> 00:13:13,030
Some people set their
foundation in all the wrong things.

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We as Christians have to set
our foundation in the one true answer

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to our struggles in life.

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And that is the truth of Jesus Christ.

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Some of you know the story in
Matthew chapter 7 verse 24 the idea

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of the wise man building his
house upon the rock.

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00:13:32,630 --> 00:13:36,560
And for us to be people of
faith, for us to be people that are

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00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:39,560
going to see God's sustaining
work in our life, we have to set

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our foundation on the rock.

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00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:45,680
Matthew 7:24 Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of

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00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:49,280
mine and doeth them, I will
liken him unto a wise man which built

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00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:50,240
his house upon the rock.

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00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:53,320
And the rain descended and the
floods came, and the winds blew and

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00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:58,120
beat upon the house, and it
fell not, for it was founded upon

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00:13:58,120 --> 00:13:58,840
a rock.

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00:13:59,560 --> 00:14:02,440
And everyone that hear these
sayings of mine and do it them not

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00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:04,800
shall be likened unto a
foolish man which built his house

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00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:05,780
upon the sand.

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00:14:05,780 --> 00:14:09,750
And and the rain descended and
the floods came, and the winds blew

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00:14:09,830 --> 00:14:13,350
and beat upon that house, and
it fell, and great was the fall of

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00:14:13,350 --> 00:14:13,510
it.

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00:14:13,510 --> 00:14:18,150
So the Bible says that we as
believers can set our foundation

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00:14:19,030 --> 00:14:23,390
on the rock, or we can set our
foundation on the sand, that when

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00:14:23,390 --> 00:14:25,670
the storms of life come, we
will be washed away.

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00:14:26,550 --> 00:14:30,870
And we see that the person who
sets himself upon the rock, as it

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00:14:30,870 --> 00:14:33,510
says there, is those who hear
what God says and obeys.

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00:14:34,170 --> 00:14:37,290
Therefore whosoever hear these
sayings of mine and doeth them, I

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00:14:37,290 --> 00:14:41,410
will liken him unto a wise man
which built his house upon the rock.

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00:14:41,410 --> 00:14:44,570
And so there we see the
foundation in Psalm 40 is the same

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00:14:44,570 --> 00:14:46,210
foundation that we see in
Matthew 7.

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00:14:46,210 --> 00:14:50,250
The rock, the foundation, the
surety of a relationship with God.

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00:14:51,290 --> 00:14:53,970
And so when we try our own
path, what does it lead to?

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00:14:53,970 --> 00:14:57,490
It leads to destruction, it
leads to demise, it leads to brokenness,

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00:14:57,490 --> 00:14:58,490
it leads to despair.

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00:14:58,490 --> 00:15:01,420
But when we put our foundation
in Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter

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00:15:01,420 --> 00:15:04,980
what storms come because he's
pulled us out of the miry clay, he's

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00:15:04,980 --> 00:15:08,220
taken us out of the horrible
pit and he's put our feet upon a

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00:15:08,220 --> 00:15:10,980
solid rock and he establishes
our goings.

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00:15:11,700 --> 00:15:14,220
Then we look at verse three
and it says, and he hath put a new

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00:15:14,220 --> 00:15:15,619
song in my mouth.

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00:15:16,740 --> 00:15:21,420
And so God wants a personal
relationship with us when he saves

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00:15:21,420 --> 00:15:21,740
us.

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00:15:21,740 --> 00:15:24,420
He saves us out of sin and he
sustains us.

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00:15:24,830 --> 00:15:27,590
But the beauty is, is that
while he is sustaining us, he gives

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00:15:27,590 --> 00:15:31,870
us new life, he gives us new
desire, he gives us a new song.

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00:15:32,430 --> 00:15:33,910
And I love how David put it there.

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00:15:33,910 --> 00:15:36,910
He says, and he hath put a new
song in my mouth.

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00:15:37,150 --> 00:15:38,830
When we're saved, we're changed.

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00:15:39,470 --> 00:15:40,590
We're transformed.

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00:15:41,230 --> 00:15:44,790
The things that we said before
are not the things that we should

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00:15:44,790 --> 00:15:45,390
say now.

360
00:15:45,550 --> 00:15:48,310
The things that we gloried in
before, the things that we desired

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00:15:48,310 --> 00:15:50,350
before are not the things that
we should desire now.

362
00:15:51,030 --> 00:15:55,270
That new song in our mouth is
talking about praising God for what

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00:15:55,270 --> 00:15:56,230
he has done for us.

364
00:15:57,190 --> 00:16:00,190
There's things that we in our
flesh desire.

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00:16:00,190 --> 00:16:02,670
There's things in our flesh
that we go after.

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00:16:02,670 --> 00:16:03,510
But he says no.

367
00:16:03,510 --> 00:16:06,829
As a believer, as someone
who's been saved and sustained, there

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00:16:06,829 --> 00:16:08,470
should be a new song in our mouth.

369
00:16:08,950 --> 00:16:12,590
We change the way we talk, we
change the way we act, we change

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00:16:12,590 --> 00:16:15,510
the way we respond because of
what he has done for us.

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00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,520
And so as Second Corinthians,
chapter five tells us that we are

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00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:21,200
new creations because he lives
in us.

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00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:25,920
And so what we praise and fear
is what we truly trust in.

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00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:28,480
So what you praise in your
life is what you're trusting in.

375
00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:31,320
What you respect in your life
is what you.

376
00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:32,120
You trust in.

377
00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:33,600
It's where your faith is placed.

378
00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:35,800
So if your faith is placed in
the world, guess what?

379
00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:37,120
You're going to have the song
of the world.

380
00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,480
If your faith is placed in your.

381
00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:43,960
Your treasures, your finances,
your song is going to be in your

382
00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:45,120
treasure and your finances.

383
00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:47,400
Whatever is in our heart is
what's going to be our.

384
00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:49,880
So now some of you say song
I'm supposed to sing.

385
00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:52,040
Well, I do believe the Bible
says make a joyful noise.

386
00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:54,840
Doesn't say make a, you know,
in tune noise.

387
00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:57,760
Even though we should do our
best for the Lord, but we should

388
00:16:57,760 --> 00:16:58,840
have a new song in our life.

389
00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:01,240
It's a good thing to sing out
to God and praise Him.

390
00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:01,880
He.

391
00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:03,160
He calls us to do that.

392
00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:06,040
I mean, I. I was giving an
analogy today in.

393
00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:07,400
In one of the meetings that we had.

394
00:17:08,120 --> 00:17:09,120
I'll never forget.

395
00:17:09,120 --> 00:17:09,480
It was.

396
00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:10,280
It was just one of those.

397
00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:12,400
You ever had one of those
moments in your life that you just

398
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:12,840
remember?

399
00:17:13,490 --> 00:17:14,290
It's kind of like a.

400
00:17:14,530 --> 00:17:15,450
Like a stamp on.

401
00:17:15,450 --> 00:17:18,010
I don't remember a lot, but
there's just certain moments in my

402
00:17:18,010 --> 00:17:20,690
life that I experienced with
my family and with the church and

403
00:17:20,770 --> 00:17:22,530
with the world that I'll just
never forget.

404
00:17:23,170 --> 00:17:24,290
And it was one day.

405
00:17:24,530 --> 00:17:26,050
Micah had to be like six.

406
00:17:26,050 --> 00:17:27,290
I'm going to embarrass him now.

407
00:17:27,290 --> 00:17:28,210
I'm sorry, buddy.

408
00:17:28,210 --> 00:17:30,970
When I tell a story about you,
okay, but he was probably like 6

409
00:17:30,970 --> 00:17:31,290
years old.

410
00:17:31,290 --> 00:17:35,810
And we got home from Wednesday
night service, and I was coming home,

411
00:17:35,810 --> 00:17:39,780
it was a long day, and he was
getting ready for bed, and I heard

412
00:17:39,780 --> 00:17:40,620
him in.

413
00:17:40,620 --> 00:17:42,780
In his bathroom singing a song.

414
00:17:43,020 --> 00:17:45,500
Like a song that they sing at
the Wednesday night service.

415
00:17:45,900 --> 00:17:47,980
And for whatever reason that
just gave.

416
00:17:47,980 --> 00:17:48,340
That just.

417
00:17:48,340 --> 00:17:49,300
That, like, touched my heart.

418
00:17:49,300 --> 00:17:50,100
I'm like, he's in there.

419
00:17:50,100 --> 00:17:51,740
No one told him to sing that song.

420
00:17:51,740 --> 00:17:53,860
No one went in there and said,
son, you better sing this song.

421
00:17:53,860 --> 00:17:56,500
But God had put a new song in
his heart and he was singing that

422
00:17:56,500 --> 00:17:56,740
song.

423
00:17:56,740 --> 00:17:57,420
He was excited.

424
00:17:57,660 --> 00:17:59,380
And I loved it so much that I, like.

425
00:17:59,380 --> 00:18:01,380
He didn't know I was filming
him, but I was recording him.

426
00:18:01,380 --> 00:18:03,900
And I have that forever on my
phone, like him singing that song.

427
00:18:04,550 --> 00:18:06,510
And there's a couple times
where I do that with the kids.

428
00:18:06,510 --> 00:18:10,110
They don't know that, that I'm
listening and recording, but I. I

429
00:18:10,110 --> 00:18:12,230
record them singing because I
want to remember those moments.

430
00:18:13,030 --> 00:18:16,110
But I learned a lesson from
that, that God had put a new song

431
00:18:16,110 --> 00:18:17,390
in the heart of this young child.

432
00:18:17,390 --> 00:18:20,910
And that should be the same
way for us that God should.

433
00:18:20,910 --> 00:18:22,430
God gives us a reason to sing.

434
00:18:22,430 --> 00:18:24,150
God gives us a reason to praise.

435
00:18:24,310 --> 00:18:26,670
Sometimes we harden our hearts
because of the things in this world

436
00:18:26,670 --> 00:18:27,670
and we lose our joy.

437
00:18:27,750 --> 00:18:29,830
But folks, we have reasons to
praise Him.

438
00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:32,640
We wake up in the morning, his
mercies are new.

439
00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:34,000
We have reason to praise Him.

440
00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:37,160
We come to church and we have
a church family that cares about

441
00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:37,480
us.

442
00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,040
We have a church family that
we can come to with our prayer requests.

443
00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:41,120
That's a reason to praise.

444
00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:42,320
He gives us salvation.

445
00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:43,240
That's a reason to praise.

446
00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:45,720
And so in verse three, he
says, you have put a new song in

447
00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:46,240
my mouth.

448
00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:48,880
Even praise unto our God.

449
00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:53,440
Many shall see it and fear and
shall trust in the Lord.

450
00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:55,960
That new song is there, yes,
to worship.

451
00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,210
But that new song is also to
show other people how great God is

452
00:18:59,210 --> 00:19:01,130
and how he can change their
life as well.

453
00:19:02,810 --> 00:19:06,130
Some of us don't trust in what
God is doing because we don't praise

454
00:19:06,130 --> 00:19:06,490
Him.

455
00:19:07,370 --> 00:19:08,090
We, we don't.

456
00:19:08,090 --> 00:19:08,890
We don't respect Him.

457
00:19:08,890 --> 00:19:10,490
We, as it says there, fear Him.

458
00:19:11,050 --> 00:19:17,010
We lose our joy, we lose our
satisfaction because we want some

459
00:19:17,010 --> 00:19:19,730
kind of thing that the world
is promising us.

460
00:19:19,730 --> 00:19:20,730
And the Bible says no.

461
00:19:20,810 --> 00:19:24,130
The reason why sometimes we
lose our trust in the Lord, our faith

462
00:19:24,130 --> 00:19:27,850
in God, not our salvation, but
our trust in him daily is because

463
00:19:27,930 --> 00:19:29,730
we lose sight in what he has
done for us.

464
00:19:29,730 --> 00:19:30,810
We're not praising Him.

465
00:19:31,690 --> 00:19:33,810
And so our new identity is in
him now.

466
00:19:33,810 --> 00:19:35,610
And we have to start living
that way.

467
00:19:35,610 --> 00:19:36,770
We have to start singing that way.

468
00:19:36,770 --> 00:19:38,730
And so the question is, is
what is my new song?

469
00:19:39,130 --> 00:19:40,570
What am I praising God for?

470
00:19:42,170 --> 00:19:44,170
What am I praising God for
when no one's looking?

471
00:19:44,170 --> 00:19:46,250
It's one thing to praise God
when people are looking.

472
00:19:47,930 --> 00:19:50,800
Sometimes easier to do that
because we know that, hey, people

473
00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:51,600
are watching us.

474
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:54,400
But where's that praise when
no one's looking.

475
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:57,840
Where's that time of prayer?

476
00:19:58,240 --> 00:19:58,800
I don't know.

477
00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:00,160
For you, it might be, hey, you
know what?

478
00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:01,680
I have a long drive to work in
the morning.

479
00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:02,320
My commute.

480
00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:04,200
That's my time where I talk to God.

481
00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:05,800
That's my time when I praise God.

482
00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:10,440
Some of my most memorable,
meaningful prayer times were like

483
00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:12,400
when I was driving a long way
and no.

484
00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:14,080
No one could hear me except God.

485
00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:16,560
Maybe someone was listening to
me on my phone.

486
00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:17,120
I don't know.

487
00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:18,000
But the.

488
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:19,640
The idea is I would just start praying.

489
00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:21,280
I wouldn't close my eyes when
I was driving.

490
00:20:22,010 --> 00:20:23,130
I don't think that's very wise.

491
00:20:23,450 --> 00:20:23,770
But.

492
00:20:23,770 --> 00:20:24,570
But I was praying.

493
00:20:24,570 --> 00:20:26,890
And, man, if someone would
have pulled up next to me, they probably

494
00:20:26,890 --> 00:20:28,890
would have thought I was
either talking on Bluetooth or I

495
00:20:28,890 --> 00:20:29,690
was talking to myself.

496
00:20:29,690 --> 00:20:32,410
Because I think those are the
times in our life where we need to

497
00:20:32,410 --> 00:20:35,330
get alone with God and praise
him for the things that he does for

498
00:20:35,330 --> 00:20:35,530
us.

499
00:20:35,530 --> 00:20:39,130
And so when we do this, we are
not only praising God, which we should,

500
00:20:39,130 --> 00:20:40,530
but we're a testimony to others.

501
00:20:40,530 --> 00:20:41,850
We see that at the end of
verse three.

502
00:20:41,850 --> 00:20:47,690
It says, many shall see it,
and when they see it, they fear in

503
00:20:47,690 --> 00:20:51,730
a good way, with awe and
respect, and shall trust in the Lord.

504
00:20:52,130 --> 00:20:55,930
So the question would be, if
someone followed us around, if someone

505
00:20:55,930 --> 00:21:00,610
witnessed us, would they see
someone who had a new song that would

506
00:21:00,610 --> 00:21:02,050
give them hope in the Lord?

507
00:21:02,610 --> 00:21:04,770
Does our life point people to hope?

508
00:21:05,170 --> 00:21:07,410
Does our life point people to satisfaction?

509
00:21:07,410 --> 00:21:10,450
Does our life point people to
a transformation in Jesus Christ?

510
00:21:11,970 --> 00:21:14,370
How would someone characterize
our testimony?

511
00:21:16,210 --> 00:21:19,770
I know for me, sometimes in my
life, when I'm in a spirit of discontentment,

512
00:21:19,770 --> 00:21:22,890
people would characterize me
by my complaining because I could

513
00:21:22,890 --> 00:21:24,970
tell them all the things that
are wrong with me today and all the

514
00:21:24,970 --> 00:21:25,970
things that could be better.

515
00:21:27,490 --> 00:21:30,210
But what kind of testimony is
that for someone who needs Jesus

516
00:21:30,210 --> 00:21:30,889
and we show them?

517
00:21:30,889 --> 00:21:31,450
Hey, you know what?

518
00:21:31,450 --> 00:21:33,730
All I can do is complain
instead of praise.

519
00:21:34,370 --> 00:21:37,050
The question would be for us
is, are we willing to proclaim it

520
00:21:37,050 --> 00:21:37,810
to those around us?

521
00:21:37,810 --> 00:21:39,250
And so we will see fruit.

522
00:21:39,250 --> 00:21:42,900
If we are living for him and
proclaiming his name, God is the

523
00:21:42,900 --> 00:21:45,340
only thing that lasts.

524
00:21:46,700 --> 00:21:48,500
There's a lot of things in our
life that we think are important,

525
00:21:48,500 --> 00:21:49,740
but those things are going to
pass away.

526
00:21:50,540 --> 00:21:54,380
The Bible says that those
things that we do for him, proclamation,

527
00:21:54,700 --> 00:21:58,820
praising, preaching, doing all
the things that God has called us

528
00:21:58,820 --> 00:22:01,620
to do, when we do that, those
things are going to last for eternity.

529
00:22:01,620 --> 00:22:02,940
That's the kind of fruit that lasts.

530
00:22:03,820 --> 00:22:06,900
And so salvation is the only
thing that can't be taken away from

531
00:22:06,900 --> 00:22:07,100
us.

532
00:22:07,100 --> 00:22:12,740
The Bible says that our health
can be taken away, our finances could

533
00:22:12,740 --> 00:22:13,420
be taken away.

534
00:22:14,540 --> 00:22:16,780
God forbid this building could
be taken away.

535
00:22:16,780 --> 00:22:20,260
I mean, there could be a storm
and the walls of this church could

536
00:22:20,260 --> 00:22:21,020
be knocked down.

537
00:22:21,580 --> 00:22:22,900
That doesn't mean our church
is gone.

538
00:22:22,900 --> 00:22:24,700
That doesn't mean our
salvation is gone.

539
00:22:25,260 --> 00:22:30,780
Because these pews, this
church, this podium, this isn't what

540
00:22:31,020 --> 00:22:32,540
is going to last for eternity.

541
00:22:32,540 --> 00:22:35,180
What lasts for eternity is
that relationship with Jesus Christ.

542
00:22:35,540 --> 00:22:38,380
The things that we do in
sowing the seed for the family of

543
00:22:38,380 --> 00:22:39,660
God, for the kingdom of God.

544
00:22:39,660 --> 00:22:40,500
That's what's going to last.

545
00:22:40,500 --> 00:22:41,700
And so that's our hope.

546
00:22:41,700 --> 00:22:42,700
And so that's what he's
talking about here.

547
00:22:42,700 --> 00:22:44,500
He says, you have a new song
in your mouth.

548
00:22:45,060 --> 00:22:48,260
Your praise to God is praise
to God and a testimony for others.

549
00:22:48,260 --> 00:22:51,820
And then we get to verse four
and it says here in verse four, blessed

550
00:22:51,820 --> 00:22:56,900
is that man that maketh the
Lord his trust and respect, if not

551
00:22:56,900 --> 00:23:00,340
the proud, nor such as turn
aside to lies.

552
00:23:01,790 --> 00:23:05,390
So as God wanting a
relationship with us, and as we trust

553
00:23:05,390 --> 00:23:08,430
in that, he saves us and then
he sustains us, and then he gives

554
00:23:08,430 --> 00:23:12,630
us a new song and he changes
us and he allows us to proclaim his

555
00:23:12,630 --> 00:23:12,990
name.

556
00:23:13,630 --> 00:23:17,830
Then we see in verse four that
God gives us joy because he rescues

557
00:23:17,830 --> 00:23:19,630
us from the lies of this world.

558
00:23:20,990 --> 00:23:23,990
Really, if you think about
this world and the framework of this

559
00:23:23,990 --> 00:23:26,190
world, it's all based on a lie.

560
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:30,320
When it comes to the worldly
system, the worldly system is get

561
00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:31,080
what you can now.

562
00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:32,120
This is all you have.

563
00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:33,520
So get what you can now.

564
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:35,400
The one who dies with the most
toys wins.

565
00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:37,320
The one dies with the most
power wins.

566
00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:42,679
And so the worldly way, the,
the system that Satan enacted into

567
00:23:42,679 --> 00:23:44,360
this world is alive.

568
00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:48,200
And so what God does is that
as he saves us and he sustains us

569
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:52,200
and he changes us, he gives us
a reason to have joy and he rescues

570
00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:54,290
us from, from the lies of this world.

571
00:23:54,930 --> 00:23:58,050
And so verse four, that that
word blessed is happy, joyful.

572
00:23:58,930 --> 00:24:02,690
Joyful is that man that maketh
the Lord his trust.

573
00:24:03,250 --> 00:24:06,370
And so the only absolute truth
comes from God.

574
00:24:06,450 --> 00:24:08,770
The world is going to throw a
bunch of truths out at us.

575
00:24:09,250 --> 00:24:12,210
Well, at least what they call
truths which we know are lies.

576
00:24:13,010 --> 00:24:15,490
And I even heard someone
recently saying, well, you know what?

577
00:24:15,490 --> 00:24:19,050
Your truth is your truth, and
my truth is my truth.

578
00:24:19,050 --> 00:24:21,640
And we can all have our own truths.

579
00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:25,040
The problem is, is what if
those truths contradict each other?

580
00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:25,600
What do we do?

581
00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:27,120
Well, there must be an
absolute truth.

582
00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:30,080
And what the Bible says here
is we find that truth in God.

583
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,920
The blessed is that man that
maketh the Lord his trust.

584
00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:36,080
Don't pursue the lies of this world.

585
00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:38,200
The lies are going to be
thrown out and the lies are going

586
00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:40,600
to be packaged in a way that
seemed very attractive.

587
00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:44,720
Well, the Bible says here that
the only absolute truth comes from

588
00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:45,000
God.

589
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:48,080
And so the one who does not
believe the lies and the one who

590
00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:51,390
puts his trust with or her
trust in God is going to be the one.

591
00:24:51,390 --> 00:24:52,470
As it says there in verse four.

592
00:24:52,470 --> 00:24:55,590
Blessed is that man that
maketh the Lord his trust.

593
00:24:55,590 --> 00:24:56,350
And then what?

594
00:24:56,350 --> 00:24:58,390
And respect if not the proud.

595
00:25:00,230 --> 00:25:01,590
So the world is prideful.

596
00:25:02,070 --> 00:25:04,910
And so what does it say here
that the prideful chase the lies

597
00:25:04,910 --> 00:25:06,590
of this world, the humble seek
the Lord.

598
00:25:06,590 --> 00:25:08,630
This is a principle that we
see throughout the New testament.

599
00:25:08,630 --> 00:25:09,910
James chapter 4, verse 6.

600
00:25:09,910 --> 00:25:13,470
But he giveth more grace
wherefore he saith, God resisteth

601
00:25:13,470 --> 00:25:15,910
the proud, but giveth grace
unto the humble.

602
00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:18,000
So what is he saying here?

603
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,400
He says, you'll find joy by
humbling yourselves and trusting

604
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:21,960
in God.

605
00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:25,920
You'll find demise and despair
by buying into the lies of the world

606
00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:28,360
and respecting those that are
set in pride.

607
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:30,920
So it says here, don't respect
those that are proud.

608
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:33,920
Don't respect that prideful
way of doing things.

609
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:36,760
Don't look at the world system
and say that's the system that we

610
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:37,400
need to follow.

611
00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:40,600
Don't give a place to the
devil to slip in.

612
00:25:41,650 --> 00:25:44,690
Lies are being thrown at us
every single day.

613
00:25:44,690 --> 00:25:48,290
But our faith and trust in God
will give us the victory.

614
00:25:49,170 --> 00:25:53,170
Nowadays more than ever, we
are bombarded by lies.

615
00:25:54,850 --> 00:25:59,490
Some of you know that all you
got to do is turn on your phone and

616
00:25:59,490 --> 00:26:00,370
look at the news.

617
00:26:00,930 --> 00:26:03,930
And sometimes people would
even willing admit, I don't even

618
00:26:03,930 --> 00:26:05,010
know what's true these days.

619
00:26:05,570 --> 00:26:08,330
I don't even know if this is a
real video or a real picture.

620
00:26:08,330 --> 00:26:09,050
I don't even know.

621
00:26:09,050 --> 00:26:11,010
There's so much confusion in
this world today.

622
00:26:12,290 --> 00:26:14,050
So with all that confusion,
what do we do?

623
00:26:14,050 --> 00:26:15,530
We go back to the foundation.

624
00:26:15,530 --> 00:26:17,770
We go back to the one who
gives us hope.

625
00:26:17,770 --> 00:26:20,050
And it says here, don't
respect the proud.

626
00:26:20,850 --> 00:26:25,170
Don't put your trust in the
proud, nor such as turn aside to

627
00:26:25,170 --> 00:26:25,650
lies.

628
00:26:26,290 --> 00:26:29,930
And so when we buy into the
lies of the enemy, we're giving him

629
00:26:29,930 --> 00:26:33,970
a foothold and we're allowing
ourselves to find those lies and

630
00:26:33,970 --> 00:26:37,090
ultimately the outcome of
those lies, which James chapter one

631
00:26:37,090 --> 00:26:38,690
tells us what the outcome of
that is.

632
00:26:39,420 --> 00:26:40,460
Death and destruction.

633
00:26:41,980 --> 00:26:44,660
So when we buy into the lies
of the world, what are we doing?

634
00:26:44,660 --> 00:26:47,740
Well, ultimately what we're
doing is we're practicing idolatry,

635
00:26:48,140 --> 00:26:49,700
we're practicing selfishness.

636
00:26:49,700 --> 00:26:52,980
And God hates that only God
truly fulfills.

637
00:26:52,980 --> 00:26:54,300
And that's what verse four is
all about.

638
00:26:54,300 --> 00:26:57,900
It says, blessed, happy,
content is the man that maketh the

639
00:26:57,900 --> 00:26:58,940
Lord his trust.

640
00:26:59,740 --> 00:27:02,700
What about the one who goes
the way of the world and buys into

641
00:27:02,700 --> 00:27:03,180
the lies?

642
00:27:03,180 --> 00:27:05,500
Well, that person finds
brokenness and despair.

643
00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:09,800
Then we look at verse 5, verse
5, it says this many O Lord my God,

644
00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:12,280
are thy wonderful works which
thou has done.

645
00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:17,560
He goes back and thinks about,
meditates upon God's miraculous works.

646
00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:21,400
He says, in thy thoughts which
are to usward, they cannot be reckoned

647
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:22,840
up in order unto thee.

648
00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:26,600
If I would declare and speak
of them, they are more than can be

649
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:27,240
numbered.

650
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:29,960
He says essentially this God,
you are so great.

651
00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:31,400
You are so wonderful.

652
00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:34,000
If I just tried to praise you
for all the things that you have

653
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,110
done for me and how wonderful
you are, I wouldn't have enough time.

654
00:27:37,110 --> 00:27:38,430
I wouldn't be able to.

655
00:27:38,990 --> 00:27:41,750
And so he references God in,
in a special way.

656
00:27:41,750 --> 00:27:44,190
He says many oh Lord, my God.

657
00:27:44,350 --> 00:27:46,830
Again he refers to that
personal relationship that he has

658
00:27:46,830 --> 00:27:47,190
with God.

659
00:27:47,190 --> 00:27:49,510
And he says God has done
everything for us.

660
00:27:49,510 --> 00:27:50,430
He's good to us.

661
00:27:50,749 --> 00:27:52,590
We don't deserve any of this.

662
00:27:52,910 --> 00:27:56,030
But because God is good to us,
we should be thankful.

663
00:27:56,110 --> 00:27:58,110
And because we are thankful,
we serve Him.

664
00:27:58,110 --> 00:28:00,830
And so we are always on his mind.

665
00:28:00,830 --> 00:28:05,280
Even think back to what Romans
chapter 5, verse 8 says that in that

666
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:07,440
while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.

667
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:12,000
And so God knows what we will do.

668
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,520
God knows our failures, God
knows our inadequacies.

669
00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:17,640
But yet at the same time he
extends his love to us.

670
00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:19,920
And so God cares about us.

671
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:21,440
He knows our struggles.

672
00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:22,960
He meets us in our need.

673
00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:29,000
And he gives us what no other
religion or belief system or institution

674
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:29,600
can provide.

675
00:28:30,580 --> 00:28:32,500
And that is full satisfaction.

676
00:28:32,500 --> 00:28:33,900
He's our heavenly Father.

677
00:28:33,900 --> 00:28:34,780
He's our friend.

678
00:28:34,780 --> 00:28:37,140
As we talked about this
morning, he's our shepherd.

679
00:28:37,860 --> 00:28:41,300
Bible says he's like our
brother, our counselor, our helper,

680
00:28:41,780 --> 00:28:42,660
our Savior.

681
00:28:43,380 --> 00:28:46,219
And so verse 5 is this amazing
thing that, that he gets to this

682
00:28:46,219 --> 00:28:47,060
place where he almost.

683
00:28:47,300 --> 00:28:50,660
You almost can feel that he's
overwhelmed with the goodness of

684
00:28:50,660 --> 00:28:50,900
God.

685
00:28:50,900 --> 00:28:53,260
He's overwhelmed with the
grace of God.

686
00:28:53,260 --> 00:28:54,860
He's overwhelmed with the love
of God.

687
00:28:54,860 --> 00:28:57,270
And all that can happen is
really just pouring pours out of

688
00:28:57,270 --> 00:28:59,470
him this praise to God.

689
00:29:00,110 --> 00:29:02,750
He says it's amazing that you
would even think about us.

690
00:29:03,710 --> 00:29:04,470
He says it's.

691
00:29:04,470 --> 00:29:06,990
It's amazing your works
because we can't even think about

692
00:29:06,990 --> 00:29:07,550
all of them.

693
00:29:07,550 --> 00:29:08,590
They're Just too grand.

694
00:29:08,590 --> 00:29:09,550
They're too wonderful.

695
00:29:10,030 --> 00:29:11,790
And then we get to verse
number six.

696
00:29:12,190 --> 00:29:14,350
He says, sacrifice and offering.

697
00:29:14,350 --> 00:29:17,630
Thou didst not desire mine ears.

698
00:29:17,630 --> 00:29:20,670
Hast thou open burnt offering
and sin offering?

699
00:29:20,670 --> 00:29:21,830
Hast thou not required?

700
00:29:21,830 --> 00:29:23,710
You say, what is he talking
about here?

701
00:29:25,350 --> 00:29:27,750
Well, the awesome thing about
what God has done for us is that

702
00:29:27,750 --> 00:29:30,230
God saves us from the bondage
of works.

703
00:29:31,510 --> 00:29:34,990
He says here, God's not
concerned with sacrifice and offering

704
00:29:34,990 --> 00:29:36,390
if he doesn't have your heart.

705
00:29:36,390 --> 00:29:39,670
Sacrifice and offering are
empty if God doesn't have our heart.

706
00:29:39,829 --> 00:29:42,910
And in this case, the analogy
would be our ear, our listening ear

707
00:29:42,910 --> 00:29:43,510
to him.

708
00:29:44,150 --> 00:29:44,470
And.

709
00:29:44,470 --> 00:29:48,550
And so there's a teaching that
basically says this, that if.

710
00:29:48,870 --> 00:29:53,710
If we want God's love, if we
want God's grace, if we want God's

711
00:29:53,710 --> 00:29:57,250
good favor, you've got to work
and work and work and just hope that

712
00:29:57,250 --> 00:30:00,490
God will eventually be proud
of us and that God would be happy

713
00:30:00,490 --> 00:30:03,130
with us and that we could
reach some kind of point in our life

714
00:30:03,130 --> 00:30:06,050
where God would just be
satisfied with our work.

715
00:30:06,050 --> 00:30:08,170
Folks, we can never do enough.

716
00:30:09,050 --> 00:30:10,570
And so what is this saying?

717
00:30:10,570 --> 00:30:12,650
It doesn't mean that God
doesn't want our sacrifice.

718
00:30:12,650 --> 00:30:14,730
It doesn't mean that God
doesn't want our offering.

719
00:30:14,810 --> 00:30:17,290
But the truth is, is that God
doesn't need that.

720
00:30:18,730 --> 00:30:20,130
God wants our heart.

721
00:30:20,130 --> 00:30:21,850
If God has our heart, he has
our everything.

722
00:30:21,850 --> 00:30:24,460
He has our sacrifice, he has
our offering.

723
00:30:24,460 --> 00:30:27,740
But we know that it's very
simple for a person to fall into

724
00:30:27,740 --> 00:30:30,820
the trap of just thinking,
I've got my offering today, I've

725
00:30:30,820 --> 00:30:32,020
got my sacrifice today.

726
00:30:32,100 --> 00:30:35,740
I do all my religious
checklists, and now God must be happy

727
00:30:35,740 --> 00:30:36,180
with me.

728
00:30:36,260 --> 00:30:37,460
God wants our heart.

729
00:30:37,460 --> 00:30:38,740
And that's really what this is
all about.

730
00:30:39,940 --> 00:30:42,860
And so the greatest work of
God was that the salvation that he

731
00:30:42,860 --> 00:30:46,460
extended to us was through the
work of Jesus Christ and not our

732
00:30:46,460 --> 00:30:46,660
work.

733
00:30:46,660 --> 00:30:49,340
That's what's different than
any other religious system in the

734
00:30:49,340 --> 00:30:49,740
world today.

735
00:30:49,740 --> 00:30:53,140
Every religious system says,
what can you do to get God?

736
00:30:53,620 --> 00:30:57,500
The Bible teaches, what did
God do so that we could obtain a

737
00:30:57,500 --> 00:30:58,580
relationship with him?

738
00:30:59,140 --> 00:31:02,260
And so the offerings that are
being talked about here were not

739
00:31:02,260 --> 00:31:04,180
wrong in and of themselves.

740
00:31:04,820 --> 00:31:06,380
But the offerings are not enough.

741
00:31:06,380 --> 00:31:07,860
Because if people think, hey,
you know what?

742
00:31:07,860 --> 00:31:10,900
If I just give enough, God
will love me more.

743
00:31:10,980 --> 00:31:14,340
If I just give enough, maybe
God will shine his grace upon me.

744
00:31:14,420 --> 00:31:15,620
We cannot give enough.

745
00:31:15,620 --> 00:31:19,580
And so the offerings or the
works themselves in the bigger picture

746
00:31:19,580 --> 00:31:22,160
are given to find a better
standing with God.

747
00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:24,360
If they're given to find a
better standing with God, it's done

748
00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:25,520
with the wrong motivation.

749
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:30,560
Offerings and sacrifices
should be an overflow of the delight

750
00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:32,080
and worship of our hearts.

751
00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:34,920
We're to serve God with the
same reason.

752
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:36,880
We don't serve God to get him
to love us.

753
00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:38,880
We serve God because He loves us.

754
00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:42,920
We, we don't put our, our
offerings in the offering plate or

755
00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:46,160
in the box because we hope
that God will some way bless us.

756
00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:48,400
We, we do that because God has
already blessed us.

757
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:50,120
Now are there blessings with giving?

758
00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:50,640
Of course.

759
00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:51,560
Right.

760
00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:54,240
Obviously we understand that
like the more we give to God, the

761
00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:55,920
more we can see him working in
our life.

762
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:57,320
But let me tell you, that's not.

763
00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:00,640
God isn't sitting up in heaven
with his, with his scales going,

764
00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:03,520
well, okay, so, so, and so
gave me this much today, so I'm going

765
00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:04,880
to give him this much grace today.

766
00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:07,400
There is the principle of
sowing and reaping.

767
00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:11,240
And we should sow into the
work of God and we will reap blessings

768
00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:11,840
and fruit.

769
00:32:12,100 --> 00:32:14,860
But at the end of the day, if
we believe that we can earn some

770
00:32:14,860 --> 00:32:17,700
kind of love and status with
God, we're going to be in this never

771
00:32:17,700 --> 00:32:19,660
ending pit of works and works.

772
00:32:19,660 --> 00:32:21,940
And I've fallen into that trap myself.

773
00:32:22,820 --> 00:32:26,020
If I can just write one more
sermon, if I can have one more family

774
00:32:26,020 --> 00:32:29,540
join the church, if I can just
have this ministry working, well,

775
00:32:29,620 --> 00:32:32,180
you know what, then maybe I
can be the kind of pastor that God

776
00:32:32,180 --> 00:32:32,780
wants me to be.

777
00:32:32,780 --> 00:32:34,660
And maybe God will love me more.

778
00:32:34,980 --> 00:32:37,180
That's a dangerous, dangerous
place to be.

779
00:32:37,180 --> 00:32:40,720
And so he says here, sacrifice
and offering, Thou didst not desire

780
00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:43,680
mine ears, have thou opened?

781
00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,080
So, so what does he, what is
he talking about here in this case?

782
00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:50,480
What is he talking about his
ears being open?

783
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:55,720
Well, it's this understanding
that God wants us to listen to him.

784
00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:59,080
God wants that relationship
with him to obey his voice.

785
00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:00,160
God wants our heart.

786
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:02,320
And the way that he gets our
heart is through his word.

787
00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:06,400
And so instead of saying,
okay, God, let me give you all these

788
00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:09,240
things that I need to do and
then hopefully I can reach you.

789
00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:11,460
No, it's reaching out him and
allowing him to guide us.

790
00:33:11,460 --> 00:33:15,140
And so it's obeying his voice,
it's giving him our ears, and it's

791
00:33:15,140 --> 00:33:16,220
giving him our heart.

792
00:33:16,700 --> 00:33:19,780
And so if we give him our
heart submission, he'll have our

793
00:33:19,780 --> 00:33:20,060
lives.

794
00:33:20,620 --> 00:33:23,780
If we try to reach God's favor
with an empty show of works, we're

795
00:33:23,780 --> 00:33:24,780
going to eventually fail.

796
00:33:25,420 --> 00:33:28,500
And so when we turn our heart
over to him, he changes it and he

797
00:33:28,500 --> 00:33:32,300
shows us new desires, he gives
us a new mission, he gives us new

798
00:33:32,300 --> 00:33:36,460
goals, and so he rescues us
from the burden of performance.

799
00:33:36,780 --> 00:33:39,820
Because our salvation is based
in faith and faith alone.

800
00:33:40,580 --> 00:33:42,100
So based on what he did for us.

801
00:33:42,100 --> 00:33:46,420
And so our performance follows
true faith because our faith is in

802
00:33:46,420 --> 00:33:48,820
him and that gives us our
identity in Him.

803
00:33:48,900 --> 00:33:51,940
And so our service is based in
that and not.

804
00:33:53,540 --> 00:33:55,700
Not ultimately proving our
love to Him.

805
00:33:55,940 --> 00:33:57,140
And so what I would say is this.

806
00:33:57,460 --> 00:33:59,900
Our love for him will be
manifested by works.

807
00:33:59,900 --> 00:34:02,900
But works don't necessarily
mean that we're loving him because

808
00:34:02,900 --> 00:34:04,340
it goes back to our motivation.

809
00:34:04,820 --> 00:34:06,820
And so the good news is that
this frees us.

810
00:34:06,820 --> 00:34:10,210
It's not freedom from serving,
but it's freedom to serve him.

811
00:34:10,210 --> 00:34:13,290
Because you know you can't
fail when you're on God's side.

812
00:34:13,930 --> 00:34:15,930
So it's understanding that
true perspective.

813
00:34:16,810 --> 00:34:19,170
So ultimately, what David's
saying is like, thank you, Lord.

814
00:34:19,170 --> 00:34:20,730
It's not just a list of rules.

815
00:34:20,890 --> 00:34:21,450
Thank you.

816
00:34:21,450 --> 00:34:25,290
It's a personal relationship
that changes, changes our hearts.

817
00:34:25,450 --> 00:34:27,810
And that's sometimes what we
can fall into the trap of trying

818
00:34:27,810 --> 00:34:28,650
to change people.

819
00:34:29,930 --> 00:34:32,210
I know for me, I have fallen
into that trap a lot.

820
00:34:32,210 --> 00:34:35,939
I've looked at somebody and I
said, okay, if they can just stop

821
00:34:35,939 --> 00:34:39,739
doing what they're doing, you
know, let me just grab them and shake

822
00:34:39,739 --> 00:34:40,619
some sense into them.

823
00:34:40,619 --> 00:34:41,859
Stop doing what you're doing.

824
00:34:42,099 --> 00:34:44,339
And I try to be the Holy
Spirit for them.

825
00:34:45,459 --> 00:34:45,899
That's.

826
00:34:45,899 --> 00:34:47,859
That's not true change.

827
00:34:48,819 --> 00:34:51,459
It could be temporary external change.

828
00:34:52,019 --> 00:34:54,419
Like if I say, hey, like, I
don't want anyone coming into this

829
00:34:54,419 --> 00:34:59,259
church like this, or, or if
you do, we're going to just kick

830
00:34:59,259 --> 00:34:59,699
you out.

831
00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:01,240
You can't come in the front door.

832
00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:04,280
So people might change because
they're just trying to externally

833
00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:05,880
change so that they can be here.

834
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:10,480
But biblically speaking,
Biblically speaking, the Bible says

835
00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:11,640
that true fruit first.

836
00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:12,680
Corinthians, chapter 3.

837
00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:14,120
Does fruit come from Paul?

838
00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:15,320
No.

839
00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:16,840
Doesn't come from Apollos.

840
00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:18,520
The Bible says, who are they?

841
00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:20,680
They're just ministers of the Gospel.

842
00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:23,640
The Bible says, God gives the increase.

843
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:25,000
God gives the change.

844
00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:26,200
God gives the growth.

845
00:35:26,720 --> 00:35:31,000
And this is hard for me
because I grew up in a system that

846
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,120
said, okay, we've got to
change these people, so we got to

847
00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:35,680
do everything we can to change them.

848
00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:37,880
But biblically speaking, what.

849
00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:39,200
What happens here is this.

850
00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:44,320
We point people to the depths
of God's grace and his love.

851
00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:46,960
And so change.

852
00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:48,560
Biblical change.

853
00:35:48,720 --> 00:35:49,720
Biblical fruit.

854
00:35:49,720 --> 00:35:53,950
Biblical growth comes from the
Holy Spirit convicting and changing,

855
00:35:54,350 --> 00:35:58,790
comforting teaching, guiding
someone from the inside, which will

856
00:35:58,790 --> 00:36:01,310
eventually be manifested with
change on the outside.

857
00:36:01,550 --> 00:36:03,870
But if we want to see people
change, what do we do?

858
00:36:03,870 --> 00:36:05,310
We point them to the Truth.

859
00:36:05,310 --> 00:36:07,790
We give them an example of the truth.

860
00:36:08,030 --> 00:36:12,590
We love them, we encourage
them, we challenge them, we correct

861
00:36:12,590 --> 00:36:13,630
them if need be.

862
00:36:13,710 --> 00:36:17,310
But the ultimate change will
happen through the conviction and

863
00:36:17,310 --> 00:36:18,590
the change of the Holy Spirit.

864
00:36:19,550 --> 00:36:22,110
Sometimes there's a lot we put
too much pressure on ourselves.

865
00:36:24,430 --> 00:36:26,990
I mean, let's be honest, some
of you have been praying for someone

866
00:36:26,990 --> 00:36:29,790
to get saved for a long time
and you put pressure on yourself.

867
00:36:29,870 --> 00:36:31,710
What, what could I have said differently?

868
00:36:31,710 --> 00:36:33,470
How could I have done better?

869
00:36:33,870 --> 00:36:37,030
Well, as long as you're doing
your best to show them the truth

870
00:36:37,030 --> 00:36:40,270
of Jesus Christ, you've done
your part, keep praying, you don't

871
00:36:40,270 --> 00:36:40,590
give up.

872
00:36:40,590 --> 00:36:43,230
But ultimately it's the change
that God brings to their life.

873
00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:49,200
So the beauty of what is being
taught here in Psalm 40 is that the

874
00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:52,360
pressure is not on us because
we can't handle that pressure.

875
00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:56,200
Ultimately, it's given over to God.

876
00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:58,200
And God does the work and
changing people's lives.

877
00:36:58,200 --> 00:36:59,800
And that sometimes takes a
long time.

878
00:36:59,880 --> 00:37:02,120
Not in the timing that we
want, always.

879
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:06,320
But one of the most freeing
things that I've experienced in ministry,

880
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:07,040
saying, you know what?

881
00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:08,680
I've told that person the truth.

882
00:37:10,130 --> 00:37:15,770
I love them in Christ, I
exhort them, I challenge them, and

883
00:37:15,770 --> 00:37:19,090
I want to see God working in
their life and pray for them.

884
00:37:20,370 --> 00:37:22,050
And so that's what David's
talking about here.

885
00:37:22,050 --> 00:37:23,010
God wants our heart.

886
00:37:23,410 --> 00:37:27,090
Then we look at verse seven,
we'll look at verses seven and eight

887
00:37:27,410 --> 00:37:28,690
and then we'll come to a conclusion.

888
00:37:28,690 --> 00:37:32,690
Here this evening it says,
then said, I lo.

889
00:37:33,410 --> 00:37:36,170
I come in the volume of the book.

890
00:37:36,170 --> 00:37:37,290
It is written of me.

891
00:37:37,290 --> 00:37:39,530
I delight to do thy will, O my God.

892
00:37:39,530 --> 00:37:43,070
Yea, Thy law is within my heart.

893
00:37:45,150 --> 00:37:49,350
And so what we see here in
verse 6 is that freedom from the

894
00:37:49,350 --> 00:37:53,110
bondage of works, what true
salvation by faith looks like.

895
00:37:53,110 --> 00:37:57,310
And then we see that service
doesn't come because we're forced

896
00:37:57,310 --> 00:37:57,950
to serve.

897
00:37:58,270 --> 00:38:01,950
Service comes through a
changed heart.

898
00:38:01,950 --> 00:38:05,830
We have that new desire to
serve him and to sacrifice for him.

899
00:38:05,830 --> 00:38:10,110
And so it's enjoying doing
things for him.

900
00:38:11,870 --> 00:38:13,070
We get to do this.

901
00:38:13,150 --> 00:38:16,430
Not I have to do this, but I
get to do this for God.

902
00:38:17,630 --> 00:38:21,070
If things, if the things of
God are not enjoyable to us.

903
00:38:23,390 --> 00:38:24,430
If service.

904
00:38:24,910 --> 00:38:26,750
Let me, let me say this very
carefully here.

905
00:38:27,150 --> 00:38:36,160
If service, worship, prayer,
Bible study, fellowship within the

906
00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:36,520
church.

907
00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:41,920
If, if we have lost joy in
that, those things are not enjoyable

908
00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:47,000
anymore, it's time to re
evaluate our hearts and our minds.

909
00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:51,440
It doesn't necessarily mean
that we're living in public sin,

910
00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:54,400
but what that means is that
there is something going on that's

911
00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:58,440
not Healthy if I do not find
joy in all these things that God

912
00:38:58,440 --> 00:38:59,800
has said we find joy in.

913
00:39:00,450 --> 00:39:02,010
Okay, so, so what does that mean?

914
00:39:02,010 --> 00:39:02,690
That means this.

915
00:39:02,690 --> 00:39:05,170
It could possibly just be a misunderstanding.

916
00:39:05,170 --> 00:39:08,650
It could be that I'm burnt out
because I have the wrong motivation,

917
00:39:08,650 --> 00:39:09,410
or I've been.

918
00:39:09,410 --> 00:39:12,810
I've been misunderstanding the
way that I'm supposed to do this.

919
00:39:12,810 --> 00:39:17,770
But the Bible clearly teaches
that serving him, worshiping him,

920
00:39:17,770 --> 00:39:23,810
being with other believers,
reading his word, praying, these

921
00:39:23,890 --> 00:39:27,730
should all be things that God
expects us to have joy in.

922
00:39:28,250 --> 00:39:30,290
God has not called us to have
miserable lives.

923
00:39:30,290 --> 00:39:34,490
He's actually called us to
have abundant grace in our life,

924
00:39:34,970 --> 00:39:37,690
to life, to have life and life
more abundantly.

925
00:39:38,330 --> 00:39:41,610
Psalm 139, verse 23.

926
00:39:43,210 --> 00:39:46,010
Obviously some of you know
this passage of scripture.

927
00:39:46,010 --> 00:39:47,290
When I read it, you'll know it.

928
00:39:47,690 --> 00:39:51,850
The psalmist says, search me,
O God, and know my heart.

929
00:39:51,850 --> 00:39:56,120
Try me and know my thoughts,
and see if there be any wicked way

930
00:39:56,120 --> 00:39:58,400
in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

931
00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:01,800
There might be a time in our
life where we need to say, lord,

932
00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:04,960
search me, like, why do I not
have joy in your word anymore?

933
00:40:05,200 --> 00:40:07,760
Why do I not have joy in
worship anymore?

934
00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:09,400
Could it be a lot of things?

935
00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:13,200
But when God will reveal that
to us, we have to be then willing

936
00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:15,720
and ready to say, lord, I'm
going to change this so that I can

937
00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:16,640
find that joy again.

938
00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:23,040
Some people teach that the
life of a Christian needs to be miserable

939
00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:23,680
and joyless.

940
00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:25,760
But nothing could be further
from the truth.

941
00:40:26,660 --> 00:40:29,220
Jesus came to give us life and
life more abundantly.

942
00:40:29,220 --> 00:40:30,500
He came to give us joy.

943
00:40:31,140 --> 00:40:35,700
And so spiritual maturity
reveals to us that we don't serve

944
00:40:35,700 --> 00:40:40,060
God because our salvation
hinges on it, but we serve him because

945
00:40:40,060 --> 00:40:40,900
we love Him.

946
00:40:41,220 --> 00:40:43,620
I'm thankful that God has not
made us a robot.

947
00:40:44,260 --> 00:40:44,620
But.

948
00:40:44,620 --> 00:40:47,180
But God changes our desires.

949
00:40:47,180 --> 00:40:52,190
And so the good news then
becomes that obedience is his delight,

950
00:40:52,270 --> 00:40:53,790
our obedience is his delight.

951
00:40:53,790 --> 00:40:56,510
We prove our love to him
through our obedience.

952
00:40:56,510 --> 00:40:57,310
And so what God.

953
00:40:57,310 --> 00:40:58,630
What God asked us to do is.

954
00:40:58,630 --> 00:40:59,070
It's.

955
00:40:59,230 --> 00:41:03,390
It's not hard, it's not
impossible when we do it in him,

956
00:41:03,950 --> 00:41:05,950
but when we do it in our own
strength, it's.

957
00:41:05,950 --> 00:41:08,670
It is impossible to do the
things that God has called us to

958
00:41:08,670 --> 00:41:08,910
do.

959
00:41:09,470 --> 00:41:11,790
And there's so much more that
we could talk about when it comes

960
00:41:11,790 --> 00:41:12,270
to this.

961
00:41:12,590 --> 00:41:14,310
But what does he say here in 7
and 8?

962
00:41:14,310 --> 00:41:15,070
He just says this.

963
00:41:15,630 --> 00:41:21,260
God will change our delights,
as I will delight to do thy will.

964
00:41:21,260 --> 00:41:21,860
Oh, my God.

965
00:41:21,860 --> 00:41:24,220
Yea, Thy law is within my heart.

966
00:41:25,580 --> 00:41:28,660
And so this idea that he's
trying to get across is that, Lord,

967
00:41:28,660 --> 00:41:31,340
I know I don't have to do
this, but Lord, I want to do this.

968
00:41:31,740 --> 00:41:33,660
Lord, I delight in doing your will.

969
00:41:33,900 --> 00:41:35,420
I delight in pleasing you.

970
00:41:35,420 --> 00:41:38,620
It gives me great joy to be a
part of your work.

971
00:41:40,540 --> 00:41:43,340
We're going to talk more about
this later on in the study.

972
00:41:43,340 --> 00:41:48,860
But basically what happens is
that in David's time, animal sacrifice

973
00:41:48,860 --> 00:41:53,380
was really how they could
demonstrate animal sacrifice was

974
00:41:53,380 --> 00:41:56,140
the way that they demonstrated
this covering or this atonement of

975
00:41:56,140 --> 00:41:56,500
sin.

976
00:41:57,060 --> 00:42:00,420
And so animal sacrifice under
the old covenant would cover sin.

977
00:42:00,500 --> 00:42:03,900
The Hebrew word for atonement
is kofar, which literally means to

978
00:42:03,900 --> 00:42:04,140
cover.

979
00:42:04,140 --> 00:42:07,860
But animal sacrifice could
never take away sin, never completely.

980
00:42:08,340 --> 00:42:12,020
Only Jesus, the perfect
sacrifice in the new covenant, takes

981
00:42:12,020 --> 00:42:12,740
away our sin.

982
00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:16,800
And so we even see in Hebrews
chapter 10 this wonderful reminder

983
00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:20,120
that the blood of bull and
goats cannot completely save us from

984
00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:20,640
our sin.

985
00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:24,120
That was only a shadowy
picture of what is to come fulfilled

986
00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:24,920
in Jesus Christ.

987
00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:27,800
And so, even though David
might have not completely understood

988
00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:29,840
what he was talking about,
what he is saying is this.

989
00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:33,040
There's going to be a time
when all these sacrifices are needed.

990
00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:35,840
But ultimately there's only
one sacrifice that will be given

991
00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:38,400
and no longer a sacrifice will
ever need to be given again.

992
00:42:39,780 --> 00:42:42,980
God does not expect us to be
sacrificing animals over and over

993
00:42:42,980 --> 00:42:45,300
and over again because that's
not going to do anything anymore.

994
00:42:45,380 --> 00:42:48,860
Because Jesus offered that
once for all sacrifice, so no more

995
00:42:48,860 --> 00:42:50,900
animal sacrifices needed.

996
00:42:51,380 --> 00:42:51,780
Why?

997
00:42:51,780 --> 00:42:55,700
Because Jesus is that perfect
great shepherd, but he's also the

998
00:42:55,700 --> 00:42:58,420
Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world.

999
00:42:58,740 --> 00:43:02,180
And so Jesus's obedience to
God and the cross gives us an opportunity

1000
00:43:02,180 --> 00:43:06,580
to know that we now have a new
hope, we have a new victory.

1001
00:43:06,670 --> 00:43:09,940
And, and that is living in
confidence in what he has done.

1002
00:43:10,980 --> 00:43:14,300
And so at the end of verse
eight, we just see that now David

1003
00:43:14,300 --> 00:43:16,340
is going to delight to do
God's will.

1004
00:43:17,540 --> 00:43:20,980
And the law of God, the truth
of God is written on his heart.

1005
00:43:21,620 --> 00:43:23,260
And I think for us, that's
what we have to do.

1006
00:43:23,260 --> 00:43:25,140
We have to come back and find
that joy.

1007
00:43:25,380 --> 00:43:29,980
The joy of service, the joy of
fellowship, the joy of worship, the

1008
00:43:29,980 --> 00:43:30,900
joy of Bible study.

1009
00:43:32,590 --> 00:43:38,030
I, I know sometimes when I
was, when I was a young man, I had

1010
00:43:38,030 --> 00:43:39,950
a Sunday school teacher that
made us vow.

1011
00:43:40,590 --> 00:43:42,990
We, we literally got up and
made like a promise.

1012
00:43:43,470 --> 00:43:45,270
He says, I want you guys all.

1013
00:43:45,270 --> 00:43:48,910
I think I was in seventh or
eighth grade, I remember it.

1014
00:43:49,150 --> 00:43:51,390
He said, I want everyone to
make a promise to me that you'll

1015
00:43:51,390 --> 00:43:53,390
read the Bible every day of
your life.

1016
00:43:54,510 --> 00:43:57,470
And he says, and you're making
a promise before God, and you're

1017
00:43:57,470 --> 00:44:00,700
making a promise before me,
and you got to stay consistent with

1018
00:44:00,700 --> 00:44:00,980
this.

1019
00:44:01,620 --> 00:44:02,580
I was like, okay.

1020
00:44:02,980 --> 00:44:04,660
And I. I signed on the paper.

1021
00:44:04,660 --> 00:44:05,580
I was like, I'm gonna do it.

1022
00:44:05,580 --> 00:44:09,460
Because emotionally, in that
moment, we just came off of this

1023
00:44:09,460 --> 00:44:12,700
revival, and I'm like, I'm
gonna read my Bible every single

1024
00:44:12,700 --> 00:44:13,860
day, and I'm not gonna miss.

1025
00:44:13,940 --> 00:44:17,020
And for the first couple
weeks, it was like I was digging

1026
00:44:17,020 --> 00:44:17,220
in.

1027
00:44:17,220 --> 00:44:18,980
I was reading passages of scripture.

1028
00:44:18,980 --> 00:44:20,020
I was enjoying it.

1029
00:44:20,580 --> 00:44:24,500
And then life started to
happen, and distractions started

1030
00:44:24,500 --> 00:44:26,140
to happen, and school started
to happen.

1031
00:44:26,140 --> 00:44:27,690
And I remember what it was like.

1032
00:44:27,690 --> 00:44:30,290
I was like, late at night, my
parents like, all right, it's time

1033
00:44:30,290 --> 00:44:30,770
to go to bed.

1034
00:44:30,770 --> 00:44:32,250
I'm like, I haven't read my
Bible today.

1035
00:44:32,490 --> 00:44:33,610
So you know what I would do?

1036
00:44:33,770 --> 00:44:35,730
I would go like this, all right?

1037
00:44:35,730 --> 00:44:38,410
Ezekiel 27, the word of the
Lord came again unto me, saying,

1038
00:44:38,410 --> 00:44:38,970
now is.

1039
00:44:38,970 --> 00:44:41,130
And I would just read like,
one or two verses, and I go, okay,

1040
00:44:41,130 --> 00:44:42,090
I read my Bible today.

1041
00:44:42,569 --> 00:44:47,690
Now, the truth is, is like,
was God pleased with just me flippantly

1042
00:44:47,690 --> 00:44:49,730
just going and not really
retaining anything?

1043
00:44:49,730 --> 00:44:51,130
I was just trying to keep a.

1044
00:44:51,290 --> 00:44:52,810
A promise that I had made.

1045
00:44:54,430 --> 00:44:55,470
Was there any retention?

1046
00:44:55,470 --> 00:44:56,830
No, there wasn't.

1047
00:44:57,310 --> 00:44:59,510
Then I'm just going to tell
you after time, I'd miss a couple

1048
00:44:59,510 --> 00:45:02,270
days, and I'd go, oh, man, I
feel so convicted and guilty.

1049
00:45:02,430 --> 00:45:03,190
But you know what?

1050
00:45:03,190 --> 00:45:07,310
After I missed, like, a few
days and got to a couple weeks, you

1051
00:45:07,310 --> 00:45:08,790
know, the truth is, I didn't
feel so bad.

1052
00:45:08,790 --> 00:45:11,230
I didn't feel as bad anymore
because I'm like, you know what?

1053
00:45:11,710 --> 00:45:12,510
It's okay.

1054
00:45:13,550 --> 00:45:15,790
And the truth is, is that
God's not sitting up there going,

1055
00:45:15,790 --> 00:45:18,350
well, you know, if you don't
read your Bible every day, you're

1056
00:45:18,350 --> 00:45:18,950
a bad person.

1057
00:45:18,950 --> 00:45:19,230
You're.

1058
00:45:19,230 --> 00:45:19,550
You're.

1059
00:45:19,760 --> 00:45:21,920
But it shouldn't be that way.

1060
00:45:21,920 --> 00:45:24,480
It shouldn't be like, oh, man,
it's just such a burden.

1061
00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:27,880
It should be like, this is
God's love letter to me, and I get

1062
00:45:27,880 --> 00:45:28,360
to read this.

1063
00:45:28,360 --> 00:45:29,600
It should be done in joy.

1064
00:45:30,240 --> 00:45:32,960
Now, there's going to be times
where spiritual disciplines are difficult.

1065
00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:38,000
Okay, I. I'm just going to
give you a quick analogy, then I'll

1066
00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:38,320
be done.

1067
00:45:39,520 --> 00:45:41,760
I. I, like, I. I try to run.

1068
00:45:42,160 --> 00:45:43,640
I try to jog some of it.

1069
00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:46,540
Like, it's not really running,
just like, basically fast walk.

1070
00:45:46,540 --> 00:45:47,060
Just, Just.

1071
00:45:47,060 --> 00:45:48,980
Just where both of my feet are
off the ground a little bit.

1072
00:45:48,980 --> 00:45:50,780
But sometimes I. I like to get
out and do that.

1073
00:45:51,020 --> 00:45:51,900
And when I.

1074
00:45:51,900 --> 00:45:55,660
When I first did that, I got
out on the road and I ran and I ran

1075
00:45:55,660 --> 00:45:57,460
probably for like maybe a block.

1076
00:45:57,460 --> 00:45:58,940
And I thought I was gonna die.

1077
00:45:59,420 --> 00:46:00,940
I thought I was gonna die completely.

1078
00:46:01,340 --> 00:46:05,500
The more I did it, the more
somewhat enjoyable it got.

1079
00:46:05,500 --> 00:46:09,060
It's hard to explain, but then
you get out of it for a while.

1080
00:46:09,060 --> 00:46:11,340
Sometimes, like, I get busy
and I'm not able to do it.

1081
00:46:11,340 --> 00:46:13,580
So yesterday I'm like, okay,
Micah, we're gonna run.

1082
00:46:14,210 --> 00:46:15,370
We're gonna run no matter what.

1083
00:46:15,370 --> 00:46:16,530
Today, we're gonna go out and
do it.

1084
00:46:16,530 --> 00:46:18,050
And Mike's like, okay, dad,
we're gonna do it.

1085
00:46:18,050 --> 00:46:19,010
And you know when it was?

1086
00:46:19,010 --> 00:46:22,530
It was last night and it just
started to sprinkle.

1087
00:46:22,850 --> 00:46:24,490
I was like, son, do you really
want to go out and run?

1088
00:46:24,490 --> 00:46:26,850
I was trying to find every
reason not to go running.

1089
00:46:27,490 --> 00:46:28,810
He's like, no, Dad, I want to run.

1090
00:46:28,810 --> 00:46:29,290
I want you.

1091
00:46:29,290 --> 00:46:30,050
Let's do this together.

1092
00:46:30,050 --> 00:46:30,730
Let's do this together.

1093
00:46:30,730 --> 00:46:32,210
I'm like, okay, son, we're
gonna go do this.

1094
00:46:33,090 --> 00:46:33,890
And you know what?

1095
00:46:33,890 --> 00:46:36,730
Like, when we got out on the
road, we started running.

1096
00:46:36,730 --> 00:46:37,490
It was just drizzling.

1097
00:46:37,490 --> 00:46:38,290
It was nice and cool.

1098
00:46:38,290 --> 00:46:40,130
And all of a sudden started
getting a little bit harder.

1099
00:46:40,690 --> 00:46:42,850
And when you're running, like
in a line, like, if you're running

1100
00:46:42,850 --> 00:46:45,490
out and back, if you're not
running a big circle, if you're running

1101
00:46:45,490 --> 00:46:48,050
out, you know, like, as far as
you run out, you gotta run back,

1102
00:46:48,770 --> 00:46:49,170
right?

1103
00:46:49,490 --> 00:46:50,810
So that's in the back of my
mind too.

1104
00:46:50,810 --> 00:46:52,450
And I'm like, we're getting to
a mile, two miles.

1105
00:46:52,450 --> 00:46:54,210
And like, so how far are we
gonna go, Micah?

1106
00:46:54,210 --> 00:46:55,690
And Micah's like, let's try to
do a 10K.

1107
00:46:55,690 --> 00:46:57,010
That's 6.2 miles.

1108
00:46:57,170 --> 00:46:59,450
So I was like, okay, we're
gonna try to get out to like three

1109
00:46:59,450 --> 00:47:00,170
and a half miles, right?

1110
00:47:00,170 --> 00:47:01,930
When we get to three and a
half miles, Michael, what happened?

1111
00:47:01,930 --> 00:47:03,090
The bottom fell out, right?

1112
00:47:03,170 --> 00:47:04,330
Started pouring down rain.

1113
00:47:04,330 --> 00:47:05,890
I'm going, man, this is not.

1114
00:47:06,150 --> 00:47:07,190
What am I doing out here?

1115
00:47:08,310 --> 00:47:09,030
But we did it.

1116
00:47:09,030 --> 00:47:09,630
We finished.

1117
00:47:09,630 --> 00:47:12,430
And I was afraid that someone
was going to see me and running with

1118
00:47:12,430 --> 00:47:14,230
my 10 year old son, and
they're going to be like reporting

1119
00:47:14,230 --> 00:47:15,630
me, like, why do you have your
son out in the rain?

1120
00:47:15,630 --> 00:47:17,270
I'm like, well, we're kind of
stuck right now.

1121
00:47:17,270 --> 00:47:18,070
We have to finish.

1122
00:47:18,150 --> 00:47:19,110
So we finished.

1123
00:47:19,430 --> 00:47:21,710
But, you know, I said to him
at the very end of the, the, the

1124
00:47:21,710 --> 00:47:23,270
run, I was like, you know what?

1125
00:47:23,270 --> 00:47:24,470
I didn't want to do this.

1126
00:47:25,030 --> 00:47:27,790
I didn't really enjoy it most
of the way, but now I'm really happy.

1127
00:47:27,790 --> 00:47:29,790
I did this because it was a memory.

1128
00:47:29,790 --> 00:47:31,670
I told Mike, we'll remember
this for the rest of our lives.

1129
00:47:31,670 --> 00:47:33,680
We're out here running and
pouring down rain.

1130
00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:34,240
And we did it.

1131
00:47:34,240 --> 00:47:35,320
You know, we finished it.

1132
00:47:35,320 --> 00:47:36,680
And that's an accomplishment.

1133
00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:39,040
And that's sometimes how it is
with spiritual discipline.

1134
00:47:39,040 --> 00:47:40,840
Sometimes it's difficult to
get into it.

1135
00:47:41,560 --> 00:47:42,840
Sometimes it's like, man, this is.

1136
00:47:42,840 --> 00:47:46,280
This is really hard for me to
read my Bible, to pray, to study,

1137
00:47:46,760 --> 00:47:48,480
to take time out of my busy schedule.

1138
00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:49,400
But then you do it.

1139
00:47:49,800 --> 00:47:52,080
The more you do it, the more
comfortable it becomes, the more

1140
00:47:52,080 --> 00:47:53,040
enjoyable it becomes.

1141
00:47:53,040 --> 00:47:57,560
And sometimes it's not even as
easy when you're doing it, but there's

1142
00:47:57,560 --> 00:47:59,080
a blessing when we get through it.

1143
00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:01,600
And actually there is joy in that.

1144
00:48:01,680 --> 00:48:03,120
And I would encourage you to
think about that.

1145
00:48:03,120 --> 00:48:03,600
If it.

1146
00:48:03,600 --> 00:48:08,720
Spiritual discipline should
not be done out of tradition.

1147
00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:11,480
They should not be done out
of, like, I've got to do this to

1148
00:48:11,480 --> 00:48:12,320
her checklist.

1149
00:48:12,320 --> 00:48:15,080
But I would encourage you to
just not just because a lot of people

1150
00:48:15,080 --> 00:48:16,920
say, well, I don't enjoy
reading my Bible, so I'm just not

1151
00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:17,280
going to do it.

1152
00:48:17,280 --> 00:48:17,400
Right.

1153
00:48:17,400 --> 00:48:18,640
You're just saying don't read
your Bible.

1154
00:48:18,640 --> 00:48:21,760
No, I'm saying we need to
learn how to enjoy doing that.

1155
00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:25,520
And sometimes it's difficult,
sometimes it takes commitment.

1156
00:48:26,020 --> 00:48:27,780
But at the end of the day,
what does he say here?

1157
00:48:27,780 --> 00:48:28,580
He says this.

1158
00:48:28,660 --> 00:48:29,860
I want to leave you with this.

1159
00:48:30,020 --> 00:48:31,700
I delight to do thy will.

1160
00:48:33,300 --> 00:48:35,460
Yea, thy law is within my heart.

1161
00:48:36,420 --> 00:48:37,300
So what's the prayer?

1162
00:48:37,300 --> 00:48:40,140
It's not, lord, give me the
strength to read my Bible every day,

1163
00:48:40,140 --> 00:48:42,580
or give me my strength to be
at every church service.

1164
00:48:42,740 --> 00:48:45,860
It's, lord, give me a new
heart that desires that.

1165
00:48:47,060 --> 00:48:49,460
And when we desire something,
it changes our life.

1166
00:48:49,940 --> 00:48:52,780
And so I encourage you to
think about the desire that God instills

1167
00:48:52,780 --> 00:48:54,900
in us to love the things that
he loves.

1168
00:48:55,570 --> 00:48:58,650
And I've used reading the
Bible as an example.

1169
00:48:58,650 --> 00:48:59,890
But it could be a lot of
different things.

1170
00:48:59,890 --> 00:49:01,090
You know, one of the things
that God loves.

1171
00:49:01,090 --> 00:49:02,690
God loves unity within the church.

1172
00:49:04,610 --> 00:49:06,410
I don't preach about this enough.

1173
00:49:06,410 --> 00:49:09,250
I could preach every Sunday on
unity, because that's just the truth

1174
00:49:09,250 --> 00:49:09,650
of the matter.

1175
00:49:09,650 --> 00:49:12,370
God wants us to pursue unity.

1176
00:49:12,850 --> 00:49:17,890
It's his will that the church
be walking in one flesh, in one direction

1177
00:49:18,770 --> 00:49:19,410
sometimes.

1178
00:49:19,410 --> 00:49:21,760
Let me tell you all the time,
that's not default.

1179
00:49:22,400 --> 00:49:24,800
Our human flesh does not seek unity.

1180
00:49:25,120 --> 00:49:26,040
So what do we have to do?

1181
00:49:26,040 --> 00:49:28,800
We have to actively chase
after that and know that that's God's

1182
00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:29,040
will.

1183
00:49:30,080 --> 00:49:31,600
God's will is what we desire.

1184
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:33,280
It's God's will that people grow.

1185
00:49:33,280 --> 00:49:34,880
It's God's will that people
come to Christ.

1186
00:49:34,880 --> 00:49:36,400
It's God's will that we make disciples.

1187
00:49:36,400 --> 00:49:39,240
It's God's will that the
church prevails over the gates of

1188
00:49:39,240 --> 00:49:39,480
hell.

1189
00:49:39,480 --> 00:49:42,240
And so what we do is we just
say, lord, we know that's your will.

1190
00:49:42,240 --> 00:49:43,920
So we delight in what you
delight in.

1191
00:49:44,480 --> 00:49:48,240
Next week, we'll come back
more and look at the second half

1192
00:49:48,240 --> 00:49:51,610
of Psalm 40, and maybe we'll
finish early or maybe we'll take

1193
00:49:51,610 --> 00:49:51,970
three weeks.

1194
00:49:51,970 --> 00:49:55,130
But I encourage you to read
Psalm 40 ahead this week and just

1195
00:49:55,130 --> 00:49:55,850
get into the.

1196
00:49:55,850 --> 00:49:58,370
The thought process of
meditating upon the word of God.

1197
00:49:58,370 --> 00:50:02,170
Even if it's this, even if
it's just taking one verse for this

1198
00:50:02,170 --> 00:50:06,930
week and just thinking about
that verse, chewing on that verse.

1199
00:50:07,890 --> 00:50:10,770
One thing that I. I like to do
is I like to write the verse out

1200
00:50:10,770 --> 00:50:13,930
physically with my hand and
circle different words that stick

1201
00:50:13,930 --> 00:50:14,530
out to me.

1202
00:50:14,690 --> 00:50:15,690
You have highlighters.

1203
00:50:15,690 --> 00:50:18,050
Highlight a word and think
about what that word means to you

1204
00:50:18,490 --> 00:50:18,770
folks.

1205
00:50:18,770 --> 00:50:21,930
You can't study the word too much.

1206
00:50:23,050 --> 00:50:26,090
You can't over and, like
Alicia sometimes tells me, she's

1207
00:50:26,090 --> 00:50:26,490
like, you.

1208
00:50:26,490 --> 00:50:28,570
You know, you analyze things a
lot, okay?

1209
00:50:28,570 --> 00:50:29,850
And I analyze the wrong thing.

1210
00:50:29,850 --> 00:50:31,890
Sometimes I'll sit there and
watch a football game and be like,

1211
00:50:31,890 --> 00:50:33,690
all right, I can't believe
they threw that pass.

1212
00:50:33,690 --> 00:50:35,970
Or like, I'll analyze, like,
me in my life.

1213
00:50:35,970 --> 00:50:38,890
But one good thing that we can
analyze is the word of God.

1214
00:50:38,890 --> 00:50:41,530
That that's something that we
should dwell on, that we should dig

1215
00:50:41,530 --> 00:50:45,450
deeper into, and that's a
healthy place to put our focus on.

1216
00:50:46,270 --> 00:50:48,590
Said of all the other things
in this world, some of us just.

1217
00:50:49,870 --> 00:50:50,910
I don't want to go there.

1218
00:50:51,070 --> 00:50:52,230
Some of us look at odd.

1219
00:50:52,230 --> 00:50:53,150
Well, I'm gonna go there.

1220
00:50:53,710 --> 00:50:56,750
Some of us look at the news of
the world, and that's what we analyze,

1221
00:50:56,750 --> 00:50:57,950
and that's all we can think about.

1222
00:50:58,510 --> 00:51:00,910
And though I think we should
be up to date with the things that

1223
00:51:00,910 --> 00:51:04,150
are going on in the world, we
shouldn't overanalyze things that

1224
00:51:04,150 --> 00:51:04,910
are out of our control.

1225
00:51:05,470 --> 00:51:08,390
Let's analyze what God has
given us in our life and dwell on

1226
00:51:08,390 --> 00:51:08,670
that.

1227
00:51:08,910 --> 00:51:11,790
And that's gonna give us the
fuel to face everything that we're

1228
00:51:11,790 --> 00:51:12,590
facing in this world.

1229
00:51:12,590 --> 00:51:15,370
So Psalm 40, that's our
encouragement here this evening.

1230
00:51:15,370 --> 00:51:16,010
Let's go ahead and pray.

1231
00:51:16,010 --> 00:51:18,290
I've kept you already longer
than I usually do, so let's close,

1232
00:51:18,290 --> 00:51:19,290
and then we'll be dismissed.

1233
00:51:19,290 --> 00:51:22,010
Lord, I thank you for this
time that you've given us, but I

1234
00:51:22,010 --> 00:51:24,650
thank you for the opportunity
to come together here this evening

1235
00:51:24,970 --> 00:51:28,570
to study your word, to look
into what you've called us to do

1236
00:51:28,570 --> 00:51:29,210
in our lives.

1237
00:51:29,210 --> 00:51:31,970
Lord, thank you for the new
heart, the new desire that you put

1238
00:51:31,970 --> 00:51:35,890
in our lives, Lord, that has
been stolen from us for whatever

1239
00:51:35,890 --> 00:51:36,130
reason.

1240
00:51:36,130 --> 00:51:39,930
Lord, help us to be renewed in
our joy of service, our renewed joy

1241
00:51:39,930 --> 00:51:44,610
and sacrifice, our renewed joy
in doing your will in our lives.

1242
00:51:44,610 --> 00:51:46,250
And so thank you for this church.

1243
00:51:46,730 --> 00:51:49,090
Thank you for the folks that
are here this evening, the folks

1244
00:51:49,090 --> 00:51:50,610
that aren't able to be here tonight.

1245
00:51:50,610 --> 00:51:52,850
Lord, I just thank you for the
love and the grace that you've given

1246
00:51:52,850 --> 00:51:53,130
us.

1247
00:51:53,610 --> 00:51:55,850
Pray that you keep us safe as
we go our separate ways tonight.

1248
00:51:56,010 --> 00:51:57,290
Jesus name, Amen.

1249
00:51:58,170 --> 00:52:00,770
Thank you again for listening
to the Middletown Baptist Church

1250
00:52:00,770 --> 00:52:01,370
podcast.

1251
00:52:01,610 --> 00:52:04,010
I hope that this sermon has
been a blessing for you.

1252
00:52:04,650 --> 00:52:06,930
If you would like to find out
more information about our church

1253
00:52:06,930 --> 00:52:10,450
or this sermon, you can find
us at middletownbaptistchurch.org

1254
00:52:10,690 --> 00:52:13,250
or find us on Facebook or YouTube.

1255
00:52:13,970 --> 00:52:18,450
You can also email me directly
at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch

1256
00:52:18,450 --> 00:52:21,090
dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast.

1257
00:52:21,250 --> 00:52:25,730
Please subscribe and follow
along for future podcast and updates.

1258
00:52:26,370 --> 00:52:27,330
Thank you so much.

1259
00:52:27,570 --> 00:52:28,290
God Bless.

1260
00:52:28,530 --> 00:52:29,810
Have a wonderful day.