ABC - Praises to God - Lesson 4

Heavenly Father, we thank you, for this day, Lord, and we give thanks to you for your mighty acts and your great deeds, and we give thanks to you that you are the God of gods and Lord of Lords. And, we just, we come before you now, Lord, and we just pray that, we prepare our hearts to hear your word, Father. we lift up the other Sunday school classes as well, that you would be with those leaders, and those students, Lord, for those kids. I just pray for their hearts, Father, as they So learning about you, Lord, just prepare that soil, Lord we pray for the salvation of all of our children that are here.

Just, we would just want to see them grow up to love you and worship you, Lord. I pray for the service that you would be, with, with the people that are coming, Lord, and especially those that may not know you. Lord, just be preparing that soil, for the seed that's going to be sown as well, and we love you and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

All right. So hopefully it seems OK. It's not, it's not popping. All right.

so if anybody doesn't know, my name is Chris Kidder. my wife and I have been coming to, Cornerstone for about, there it goes, we, we lead the Children's Church ministry, on, for second service, and, we've been leading a care group, for Probably about 5 years, I guess. so this is, Mike. Mike was out, last night.

He was partying with the, Speech and Debate. it was their last tournament, and I think they do some after parties, afterwards, and he hasn't had the privilege of being able to do that, so he asked me to fill in and, so he didn't have to, to worry about that this morning. So, we'll get started. so today we're gonna talk about the Psalms.

So I don't know if you guys had a chance to see, but, The question I asked there is if the psalms are poetry, why don't they rhyme? Right? So most of us think of poetry, it's like, if roses are red, violets are blue, right? You got the, Joe, you can finish that if you want, right?

but does anybody know, if we look at the handout, why the, why the Psalms don't rhyme? So it's Hebrew poetry. so we'll, we'll get into that a little bit, but, they work in, it works a little differently, than our, our Western culture, poetry. so they work in couplets and, and different things, so they'll, they'll, they'll use a couple of verses and they'll say the same thing, either contrasting or, or, or expounding on a point over, over different, saying it in a different way.

as their, as their type of poetry. OK. So, we're gonna start here. We got a pop quiz, all right?

So I hope everybody's ready. I need your help. How old are the Psalms? Pretty Pretty old, yeah, that's true.

What's that? 3000 years. OK. And how, how much time, how much time did it cover?

Does anybody, does anybody know? When was, when would the first one be written? Moses, yeah. So, if we, if you guys remember from, Pastor Mike's way to remember the, the, the phases of Jewish, Old Testament history.

So you have from 33. Anybody remember that one? What's that one? Oh come on.

That's with the exit on it. That's good. Exodus. There we go all the way to 9 dime, which would be the Post-exilic period, right?

So, so Psalm 90 was written by Moses and Psalm 126 is written during the, the Babylonian, probably the return from the, the Babylonian captivity, either with Ezra or Nehemiah. so that, that covers about roughly 900, roughly 900 years of Jewish history. So, all right. Next.

Maybe. There we go. Who wrote the Psalms? A lot of people.

Yes, there, there is a lot. Anybody, anybody specific? Justice David. OK, yeah, so David, wrote about probably half, at least half of the, half of the book.

Any others, Brian? What was that? ASAP, yeah. So, The sons of Korra Solomon?

Yeah, I didn't put, yeah, I did put him on there. Yup. yeah, I got Jay Jones right in front, right? That's what it was.

so Moses, we said, Hamon, Ethan, and, and Solomon. So, in 2 Samuel 23:1, David was called the sweet Psalmist of Israel and so he's responsible for at least half the, half the book of Psalms. Asaph, Hamon, and Ethan were brothers, and they were all picked specifically by David. you can look at that 1 Chronicles 6, verse 33, and following, there's, there's a selection of those guys.

They, what they did is they actually stood the tent of the tabernacle or the, the ark, and they would sing. So their job was to, to sing to the Lord, in front of the tent there. and, and an interesting note when I was looking it up, Hamon and Ethan, I don't even, if I'm saying that right, but, they were, they were pretty smart guys. In 1 Kings 4:31 is talking about Solomon and, About his wisdom.

he's wiser than any king and any, any man, and then it lists like 3 names, and Hamon and Ethan were one of the names. so I thought that was, it was interesting that they must have been fairly smart to be compared with the wisest man. and then, Cora, does anybody, is anybody familiar with, with Cora? Where that comes from?

Yeah, no, it was. That's right. So it's an interesting, an interesting thing. So Cora, he rebelled against Moses in the wilderness, and, the, the Lord opened the ground and swallowed them up, and, when, when he did that, it says in, Numbers 26:9-11 that some of his family was actually spared.

And so, when the, when the family was spared, they became the, the sons of Korrah and it's this thing of turning from wickedness to righteousness. So, they left Krah and the false doctrines that he was teaching and they were spared and then they became, they became, a picture of turning from wickedness to righteousness and so, in, in 2 Samuel it's the name of the, the new band, the Sons of Korrah. And actually, there, I looked it up, there is like a folk band or something that's the, the Sons of Korra, so.

all right, so here we go.

What are the Psalms? So we know it's a book in the Bible, the longest book, right? But what are they? Praises, sure.

Hymns, yeah, yeah, hymns, prayers, songs, right. So, it's a maybe. There it goes. So it's a.

You can't find good help. All right, so it's a collection of prayers, hymns and songs. in the Hebrew, the text, the title is simply praises. the, the word that they use is, I, I'm gonna not say it correctly, but it's Mizmor, and it's used only in the Psalms and it comes from a verb to make music.

and then the Septuagint, the name, they gave it the name Psalms, and basically, that means plucking or, twanging of strings. So. All right, so now we'll take a look here. Let's see.

Maybe. Here we go. What are different types of psalms? So if you think of some psalms, They have, they can fall into a category, a few different categories.

Does anybody have any idea what, what those categories might be? Justice. What's that encouragement, sure. Sure.

In precatory, and that means Where Sounds awesome. All right. And yeah, angry prayers. Yeah So here's a, here's a list, right?

So lament, it's express need for God's deliverance, thanksgiving. make aware of God's blessing and express thanks. Praise is to identify and magnify God's greatness. enthronement is to describe God's sovereign rule.

pilgrimages establish a mood of worship. royal, it portrays Christ as a sovereign ruler, wisdom to instruct us to God's will and then then the imprecatory, which is to invoke God's wrath and judgment against your enemies, right?. All right. Some extra credit here.

Maybe there we go. All right, so one thing we see in the Psalms, OK. Oh, is it me bumping that? All right.

There should have been a training class on this. Yeah, OK. OK. Good.

All right. sorry about that. OK, so some extra credit. So in the Psalms, we see, God's character revealed, right?

So he's accessible. He's delivering eternal glorious, good, gracious, holy, immutable, just, he's kind, he's long-suffering, and that there's a, there's a long list, right? one thing that was interesting, I think this was in the handout as well, but the Psalms were originally categorized, categorized into 5 books. so up there you can see the, the change, with the, the start of each book.

So chapter 1, 42, 73, 90 and 106. and, in the, at the end, does it, everybody knows what doxology is? So at the end of each book, so 41, 72, 89, and, and 105 and 150, there's a, there's a doxology that brings the book of that, of that Psalm to a close. for example, so in Psalm 41:13, it says, blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting.

Amen and amen. and, and one thing I thought that was interesting is, as I was reading on it, there's some like Jewish, tradition or history that showed that, the reason the Psalms were broke up into five books was to mirror the, the Torah or the, the first five books of Moses. and, and I think one reason for that is, there are Psalms and their hymns, but they're also, they're also meant for teaching, right? We can get doctrine, from the Psalms and so I think it's, it's along those lines is, is part of why they had that broken up to, to group those together and, and show that.

also in the Psalms, you get, there's, there's some 20 messianic prophecies. so you see that, in everything from the announcement of Christ. to his, betrayer, being replaced, right? So, so, we'll look at that, at, at that shortly, and we'll see that here.

So, so why the Psalms, right? so we talked about a little bit, but the Psalms are doctrine. so, in Psalm one, you get meditate on the law. that's it's, it's use in the New Testament demonstrates that.

so if you look at like at Luke 20:42, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees. And he's, he's gonna teach them about himself, and he says, the Lord said to my Lord, right? So he's quoting from the Psalms, to teach the Pharisees who he is. so there's, there's doctrine intended, there's teaching, right?

Torah is, is law, but also simply Torah is teaching and that's kinda, that's kinda what I was talking about earlier. Also in Acts 1:20, the disciples are, are praying and, and kinda wondering what to do and they quote from Psalm 109. And they get they get direction and guidance on replacing Judas, as a, as an apostle. and so they used it to teach themselves about About what to do.

Should I just kill it? Yeah, I, I, it's whatever, whatever works for you. I, I can, we'll, we'll, we'll try it, right? All right, so.

Why else, why else do we have the Psalms? So we know that it's for teaching. But we also know there's psalms and hymns and songs and so, so what's the point? Yeah, Yeah, good.

Is it So I can use no. Test. So, so now I am super behind, so I think so. All right, so we'll try to make it work, right?

OK, so, but yeah, so as far as it's worship, it's meditation, it's, it is emotion, right? So, music is, music is something I think that is, is an interesting, it's an interesting thing, right? More joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. exaltation, I will be glad and exult in you.

fear, serve the Lord with fear, anger, be angry and do not sin. Peace. In peace, I will both lie down and sleep. grief, my eye wastes away because of grief, desire, oh Lord, or affliction, excuse me, oh Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted.

Hope. Let your steadfast love, oh Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. Brokenheartedness, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted. Thankfulness, gratitude.

I will thank you in the great congregation. Zeal, zeal for your house has consumed me. Pain. I'm afflicted in pain.

Confidence. The war rise against me, yet I will be confident. So I think part of it is, is we get those emotions, right? And there's more than that obviously, but I think, music does that, right?

So I, I was thinking about it this week, actually yesterday I was I'm, I'm, I'm going to the softball game. I play on the softball team and every week on the way to the softball game, I have this ritual, so my wife will laugh because it's, it's what I do. But I turn on certain music because it's what I have to listen to because I got to get in the zone, right? But it's what that music does, right?

You got to get ready, ready for the game, but it's the same when we come here, right? So before service we have worship. it's, we, we want to, it's, it brings out an emotion. we think about music from when we're, when we're younger, when we're growing up, you can recall things that happened.

I, I see it as I get older, you see things, you remember things that happened and, and when the song is played, it, it just brings this emotion up and this, this thing that, that happens through music and I think that's part of what the Psalms are meant to do, right? So we don't, we don't want to read the Psalms just for doctrine. Because I think we're missing the point. So the Psalms are meant to be, to bring out the emotion, and so that's what we have to be, that's what we have to keep in mind when we read it.

That's what the psalmists were doing, right? They were, their job was to be in front of the tent, in front of the ark and to sing to the Lord and bring out that emotion. and so we'll, we'll look at it some more as we, keep going. But let's, we're gonna look at three Psalms, right?

So I think you guys probably looked at them, but we'll get, we'll look at Psalm 150, Psalm 150. So the last, the last Psalm. All right. So I'll read it.

It says, praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary, praise Him in His mighty expanse, praise Him for his mighty deeds. Praise Him according to his excellent greatness. Praise Him with trumpet sound, praise Him with harp and lyre, praise Him with timbrel and dancing, praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe, praise Him with loud cymbals, praise Him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord, praise the Lord. so it's a pretty good example of Hebrew poetry. so it's fairly obvious what solemn this is. I, anybody want to take a stab at, What?

Say it like it. All right. Yeah, praise, right? So, so verse one, contrasts.

It's a contrasting couplet, right? So praise the Lord God in his sanctuary, praise Him in His mighty expanse. So you've got here and on earth, and you have in heaven, right? And the idea is that, heaven, whether it's, it's, the sky or heaven where, where the Lord and His angels are praising him.

I think the point is that, the point is that everywhere we praise the Lord, right, whether it's on earth or in heaven. verse two, you look at why we praise Him, right? So we see where we praise him now I see why we praise Him. and, and, it's an example of a synonymous parallelism.

the, the two deeds here mighty acts and excellent greatness. and so that's, that's why we praise Him, right? So we, we look to God and we see His mighty deeds and his excellent greatness and it causes us to, to praise and worship our Lord. and then 11 word that stuck out to me, I was curious, what, what your thoughts were here.

according to. Does anybody know? I should change the slides so you guys can see it. I forget.

according to, so does anybody know what according to like, what that means. Don't be shy. Yes. OK, yeah, so I could say I heard something, so according to Joe, we're the best softball team around.

But, OK, that's, yes, that's true, but there's also another meeting. Yeah, in proportion to or yeah. So I, I like this. I like this, this word when you see it in scripture, it, it kinda stands out.

So I want to look at Ephesians 1. We, we don't have to turn there. you can, but Ephesians 1:7, it says in him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. so you see that's that same phrase.

So, so our sins are forgiven, we have redemption, and it's all according to The riches of God's grace. So, I kinda, I've heard it explained that, if, if we're gonna start a business and you have a, a rich uncle, and he's gonna help you out, he might give you $200 to start your business, right? But that wouldn't really be giving according to his riches, that's giving out of his riches, right? But if he gives you $500,000 to start the business, that might be more in line with giving according to his riches, right?

So, so then the question is how do we praise How do we praise God according to his excellent greatness? We, yeah, we, yeah, and it's tough, right? So, I like what Matthew Henry had something to say here, so I'll read what he, what he said but he said, be not afraid. of saying too much in the praises of God, as we often do in praising even great and good men.

All the danger is of saying too little and therefore, when we have done our utmost, we must own that though we have praised him in consideration of, yet not in proportion to his excellent greatness, so he's infinitely great. we're not, I don't think we're going to be praising him here, in, in proportion to his excellent greatness, but he is greatly to be praised. So, so that's, I think that the idea there is, is to, to be, to be praising him, greatly. All right.

And then, so here, so then at the end of verse of the Psalm you see in verse 3 to 5, it's the, the how do we praise. so he goes through a bunch of, a bunch of instruments. the trumpet, the, the harp, the lyre, there's all kinds of stuff, right? And, I looked up some stuff and I don't really know.

there's a lot of churches that don't believe in using music and our instruments in their, in their worship and different things and I, I don't really even know if that's the point of the Psalm. I think it's more The psalmist goes through and he's, he's like his excellent deeds, is mighty, his greatness. there's this buildup of, of praises the end of the Psalm, so it's, it's this buildup and I think it's just a matter of our hearts are so full. that we praise God with everything that we have.

And so, yeah, that that he's talking about musical instruments, but I think the point is that we're just our hearts overflow with praise to our great God, right? And so that's, that's more I think, the point of the, of the Psalm and then the last bit here. real quick is, who should praise, right? so in, in, in verse 6, it says, let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

So, whether it's referring to just, just, just men, just people, or everything, I think the point is that God created the animals and to do something. They have a specific function and when they're doing that, they're, they're praising Him. he, he created us to do something and so when we, when we do that, we're praising Him, right? And so we, we let everything that has breath praise the Lord and then the buildup of the book, of, of all the Psalms and, and the last six books especially, our last six chapters, excuse me, culminates to the, to the last bit there of praise the Lord.

So that, that's a fitting way to end the Book of Psalms. OK. Let's see if we're on time. We're close.

All right. So, we'll look at Psalm 136. So anybody want to take a stab? And what psalm this is.

Oh, Soma, what, what that's a pretty good guess. So the first words there. Give thanks to the Lord. So that's, that makes it fairly obvious.

Yeah, so it's a Psalm of Thanksgiving. 26 times, the Psalmist says, God's steadfast love endures forever. So we, we give thanks to God and he goes through a bunch of different things, from creation to the deliverance from Egypt and so on and we'll read it. but yeah, it's, it's a, it's all about giving thanks to God for what He's done and what he's going to do.

so you can look at, there's first, there's some verses here, yeah, they're up there. First Chronicles, 16:34, when, when at the same time when David is appointing, Aaph and his brothers to be in front of the ark, the song they sing, they say it there, God's steadfast love endures forever. and so, so that was the song they sang and then in 2 Chronicles 7 when Solomon is dedicating the temple, same song, right? So the guys are in front of the temple, they're singing and it's the, it's the same song there and one that was really neat.

So in 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat's there and he's going to war and in verse 12, he doesn't know what to do, right? He, he says, we have, we have no idea what to do but our eyes are on you. And so they're, they're going to go to battle and so most, most generals would probably put their, their infantry in the front, or their, their soldiers or their elites, whatever it might be, right? But, no, they, they put the, the choir in the front of the army and when they, when they marched into battle, they were singing.

God's steadfast love endures forever, and, and it turned into a rout and, they were actually, I was telling my wife, it was neat. They, they were 3 days picking up the spoils of the battle. it's just, it's just, it's a pretty neat way to go into battle, right? But, so the way the Psalm was originally meant to be read according to tradition was it would be, it would be echoed.

So the Levites in front of the temple or in front of the the ark would sing the first part. And everybody else would sing the second part. So I hope you guys are ready because I need your help, right? So we're gonna do that.

So I'll read the first part, but then you guys have to read the second part, OK? Are you ready? Has everybody got their, their Bible out? OK, so, so we'll go like this, right?

So, give thanks to the Lord for he is good. All right, so we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll agree on a version here. We'll just say for his steadfast love endures forever because everybody has a different version. OK, so here we go.

Give thanks to the God of gods. All right. Give thanks to the Lord of Lords. To him who alone does great wonders.

To him who made the heavens with skill. To him who spread out the earth above the waters. To him who made the great lights. You're doing really good.

The sun to rule by day. And the moon and stars to rule by night. To him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn. And brought Israel out from their midst.

With a strong hand and an outstretched arm. To him who divided the Red Sea asunder. And made Israel pass through the midst of it. Yeah But he overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea.

To him who led his people through the wilderness. To him who smote great kings. And slew mighty kings. Sihan, king of the Amorites.

And Og, king of Bashan. And gave their land as a heritage. That. Even a heritage to Israel, his servant.

All right, now it's, now it's on to, to more general here who remembered us in our lowest state. Yeah. And has rescued us from our adversaries. That's low.

Who gives food to all flesh. Give thanks to the God of heaven. All right, good job. That was good.

All right. So Come on now. All right, so, we'll look at the Psalm here. I just break it down, real quick.

So, at first, there's a call to give thanks, right? So, verse 1 to 3, the psalmist urges the reader, oh, give thanks, right? that's just, that's how it is, right? We have 3 items.

So it's the, it says God is good, because God is the God of gods and he's the Lord of Lords. So he is the, the supreme good. And he is exalted above any deity and above any king, right? So what more do we need to give thanks to God for, in that, in that respect?

And then we have, the cause for thankfulness here. So verses 4 to 22, show, why the cause for, for giving thanks and he walks through, you got 6 verses that, that give thanks for creation. So he walks through everything. and, and the one that stands out in verse 5, to him who made the heavens with skill, right?

he's, he's, he's a skillful artist and he made the heavens and then he walks through with the sun and the waters and everything, as, as a cause for giving thanks. And then the next 6 are for the deliverance from Egypt. and so as the Israelites would sing this, obviously that, that, that means a little more to them, but, but it walks through that whole, that whole aspect from, from, from freedom from Egypt to delivering them in the Red Sea and, and everything, and then they're in the wilderness and so now you have 7 notes of thanks to God for bringing them through the wilderness and into the promised land of Canaan.

And then, the last, the last couple of verses there are the concluding thankfulness here in verse, verses 23 to 26.

so 23 to 24, the verses, giving thanks for our current and continuing mercies, and that we're rescued from our lowly state, right? So even while we're still sinners, Christ died for us, right? And then in verse 25, it's a note of thanksgiving to God for His providence, and, Providing our food, right? So we got to eat and the Lord is good to give us, to give us that.

And then, verse 26, it's a final request for thanksgiving, as a proper response for, for the great and mighty things of the Lord, the God of heaven, right? so that's, so everything that he's done and, and will continue to do, is a way to, to give thanks. and then just real quick on this, I thought this was interesting as I was looking this up, I found that, The psalm's called the Great, the Great Halel. so it's, I'm not even gonna Halel Haggaol.

that's probably really bad, but, it was recited on the evening of the Passover and they would actually recite that as the Passover lamb, was being sacrificed. And so, it's, it's thought that this could potentially be so in Matthew 26:30, Jesus having the lasts Supper with his disciples. They finished that up and it says when they sang a hymn, they went out and they went to the Mount of Olives and, and so it's, it's possible, that this could be the hymn that they sang. So it was tradition to sing this hymn, on the night of Passover.

so it's very likely that this is what they were singing about God's About God's goodness, as Christ was, was headed to the, to the end there. So I found that interesting. And then, Spurgeon, I gotta put a quote in here. so he says that, He hath done all things from this motive, speaking about his, his steadfast love enduring forever.

he's done all things from this motive and because his mercy never ceases, he will continue to multiply deeds of love, world without end. Let us with all our powers of heart and tongue give thanks under the holy name of Jehovah forever and ever. So, all right. So now we'll look, we got one more and we're pretty close here.

We're gonna be OK. All right, Psalm 43. So anybody want to take a guess or a stab at what this psalm is? What category Yes.

Deliverance, OK. Yeah, it could be. Yeah, I, I, I put it more of a lament, but yeah, he's asking to be delivered at the beginning. Definitely.

Yeah, I, I, it's, it's definitely a, a depressing, psalm here. at the end, it gets good, as he, as he kinda talks to himself there, but, it is, it is, definitely, he's definitely in a, in a pit of despair at this point here. so I'll read through the Psalm. And then, and then we'll look at it a little bit.

so it says here in verse one, vindicate me, oh God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation. Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man, for you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

Oh, send out your light and your truth. Let them lead me, let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling places. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy. And upon the lyre, I will praise you, oh God, my God.

Why are you in despair, Oh my soul, and why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God. So, it's thought that Psalm 42, carries the same, same writing style, the same. There's a lot of verse 5, why are you in despair on my soul, and verse 5 of 42 and verse 11, it's the same.

it's the same, he's saying the same thing there. so it's thought that maybe those in some of the earlier manuscripts, they're actually combined as one Psalm, but I, I don't necessarily know if that's the case. But, at any rate, the writer, definitely had something going on and he kinda, he kinda walk through it and there's almost like a progression, that you see. So in, in verse, in 42, he's, he's drowning, in his despair.

And verse 7, you can see that and then in verse in verse 3, it says he's just feasts on his tears. my tears have been my food day and night, right? He tries to recall the times he went to the temple, to worship, but the despair is too heavy, and, and he, it's almost like he's going to come out of it. In verse 8 and 42, he says, the Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime, and the song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life, and then in verse 9, I'll say to God, my rock, and you think this is it, he's going to come out of it.

And why have you forgotten me? he just like, he just can't get out of the despair of the pit of despondency that he's in. but then he continues in, in 43. so whether or not they're, they're, they should be combined as one song at the point is like you see the progression that he's making as, as, as he works through the spiritual depression and the, the, the attack that he's under there.

so Psalm 43, could possibly be, a prophecy for the Babylonian captivity, when it talks about the unjust nation. it could be possibly in reference, David writing due to Saul or Absalom, when he's, when he's being hunted and he's on the run. Obviously, those are pretty intense situations that you would, that you would be in. But I think, excuse me.

I think the bigger point that's regardless of what exactly is going on, the point is that we see the emotion of, of the psalmist, right? So, he is, he is in deep spiritual depression. It is, it's not, it's, he's not upset because, something minor. It, it's definitely, it's definitely something that, that has him very, very troubled.

so we'll look at, the verses here, so, verse. Maybe. Oh, there it goes. So in verse verses 1 to 4, it's prayers to God.

So the psalmist cries out in regard to his suffering. he asked for his wrongs to be righted, and he asked for his rights to be restored, the proper and appropriate things, right? Not, not his rights, but those things that he used to do that are, that are good and, and proper, in verses 3 and 4. So, in verses 1 and 2, the psalmist asked for God to vindicate him.

So anybody know could vindicate. What vindicate means. What's that? To be, I didn't hear it.

Yeah, So, yeah, so if we look at, so if we look at Psalm, or Psalm, 1 Samuel 24. I'll see if I can do it without losing my other spot. 24:15, so it's the same, same idea here. So David is on the run.

Saul is hunting him. David and his guys are camped out in the back of a cave and Saul comes in to, take care of some business. And in verse 15, David actually then cuts off a corner of his robe, right? So everybody remembers that.

that story, so he sneaks up, the guys are telling him to kill him. He, he doesn't want to do that. It's, he's appointed by the Lord, and so he's going to come in and, and he cuts off a corner of his robe and then he calls out to him. He says, Hey, Saul, I could have killed you and I didn't.

and then, That's right. Yeah. So it's different now, right? So now all of a sudden Saul's tone changed, but, but in 15, in verse 15, you see the same thing.

So David says to Saul, he's saying, The Lord, therefore be judge and decide between you and me, and may he see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand. So it's, that's the idea of vindicate there, that, that's, that's going on. And then in verse 3 and 4, you see the psalmist begin to ask for the, the right things to be restored in his life. so he's, he now he's asking God here to send out his light and his truth and let them lead, let them lead me, let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling places, and I'll go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and upon the lyre, I shall praise you, oh God, my God.

So he's, he's remembered what he used to do, how it used to be, he'd go in and worship, and now he's back and he wants that and so he's asking for the Lord's guidance and help to get him there and and one thing that stands out there is, then I'll go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy. And I think, I think some of the, some of the issues that we can run into is God is not necessarily always our exceeding joy, right? so we, we look to other things and, and put those in front of God and since, since material things and people disappoint.

depression and, and despair can, can come right along with that.

So I, I like that, that he, he's asking to, to, for God to be his exceeding joy. and then, So now the 3rd time the psalmist talks to himself here. And in verse 5, things working now. There it goes.

so he gives himself a pep talk, right? So why are you in despair, oh my soul, and why are you, you disquieted, disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, right? So, the idea is that he's, he's, he's questioning it.

He's, he's arguing with himself, but he's talking to himself, right? He's not listening to himself. We'll, we'll look at that a little bit, but he, he talks to himself and he, he tells himself to hope in God and hope is looking to the future, right? So we know that God is going to provide, he's promised that.

And so that's what we have to do is we have to hope in God and look to that future. but a couple of questions that I was pondering. is the psalmist, is he, is he wrong to lament this way? so he says that, He, he's saying that God's rejected him, right?

God cast him off in 42. So, is it Is it wrong to, to think that? Is it wrong to feel that? Is it wrong to write that out there?

I know, I see head shaking, yeah. I Yeah. Then it's not Right. is Right.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And that's, that's, so we're done. That's what I wrote down. So we'll just, we'll close the prayer and be, thank you.

No, that's awesome. That's exactly what I, I, I put that there as right as in Psalm 94:14, it says that the, for the Lord will not cast off his people. we know that, that God has promised to never leave us or forsake us, right? But it doesn't negate the fact that we, we feel that way.

there's things that happen and we remember. The Psalms are, it's a book of emotion, right? and that's, that's emotion that we all will feel. This one really stuck out to me.

I think it's, it's something that, this is something that we all will wrestle with at some point, and, and how we respond and the, and the way we act is, is is, is going to determine whether we continue in the faith or whether we, whatever it is, right? And, and, and they're not things to take lightly and there's nothing wrong with, with asking God and, and just wrestling with that and, and, and working through that. It also shows us that our, our faith. Not just Right.

These are real people. We are real. Real Re Right. This is actually gives us good direction of.

expression of Right. Right. Everybody hear that? That was really good.

Yeah, so, yeah, well, you you can't sit in the back, man. You gotta scoot up. Yeah, no, it's, it's basically, it's, it's not, we're not, our, our faith, it doesn't, we're not fake, right? It's not, we're not, it's not some promise of always going to be happy and good and, and, and we're, we got to wrestle with that and it gives us the, the hope that it's, that it's real and, and we can, we can work through it and, and, Yeah, so I will, I'll read a quote here, again by Spurgeon.

So, I'm sure most people probably know, but, but, Charles Spurgeon suffered with depression quite a bit. he, he had gout and all kinds of different things and he, so he was, he was, he suffered, severely with depression and, I, I like this quote from him because it's, well, I'll just read it. So it says causeless depression. Cannot be reasoned with, nor can David's harp charm it away by sweet discoursing.

So that's hopeless, as well as fight with the mist, as with this shapeless, undefinable, yet all be clouding hopelessness. The iron bolt, which so mysteriously fastens the door of hope and holds our spirit in gloomy prison, needs a heavenly hand to push it back. so, then the question is, how do we, how do we do that? How do we fight?

how do we fight that? Yes. Yeah Exactly, yes, and so, and that's, that's a good, that's a good point, right? So we're not God and, and it shows us what we need, and so as we go to Him in prayer, and I put up your Future Grace, John Piper wrote a book called Future Grace, and I got some ideas from that, but it's that praying to God and hoping in God and, and, and for faith for the future that of what it promised to deliver.

so, So the psalmist goes through this hopeless, he's hopeless, right? in other Psalms, it's, it's, there's no joy after weeping, there's no morning after night, no purpose, all is gathering gloom. It's darker and darker, right? You could just, it's this washing machine that you can't get out of, and, and you struggle and you, and you fight to get out of it, but you can't, right?

We're not God and we can't do it on our own and it does show that we, we need Him. but then you start to question whether God even loves you. these are things that we wrestle with, right? And it's not possible for him to love me if I'm going, if there either isn't a God or he's not good because of what I'm going through, and these are, these are things that we wrestle with through that, but, but the psalmist in 76:26, he says, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

And so one of the tools that I, I thought about that we use to To fight it is future grace, right? It's what, Piper says here is, We look to the, we look to the future, right? We have promises that we, that we know that God is going to provide, right? So the biggest thing we can do is hope in God.

we have to preach that to ourselves. so the problem we have is we listen to ourselves more than we talk to ourselves, right? I think we've, we've heard that, but, but that's the, that's the thing, right? So, so the psalmist 3 different times, he tells himself, why are you in despair?

Why are you disturbed? Hope in God. it's not going to happen, right? He he continues to wrestle with it.

all through 42, at the end of 42, all through 43, before he finally, maybe he gets out of that and, and, but I, I think it's that guidance that we have there that shows, what it is that we're supposed to be doing, and how we're supposed to be dealing with it. so, Martin Lloyd Jones had a quote here, so I'll put that up, about the same idea. All right, so We allow ourselves to talk to us instead of talking to ourselves. Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning.

You've not originated them, but they start talking to you. They bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you?

Now, the psalmist treatment was this. Oh Self, listen. For a moment I will speak to you. Why, why art thou cast down?

What business have you to be disquieted? And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, what God has pledged Himself to do. Then, having done that, say with this man, I shall yet praise Him for the help of my countenance. so The last thought is like that.

I don't, I don't think that this is something that, that comes naturally, It's much easier to sit in despair, and just to, to just let it happen. what was me. so I think it's something that we have to work out, right? It takes diligence, it takes discipline.

It takes the body, to be there for us. and, and like I said, I don't, there's nothing wrong with these feelings. It's, it's the psalms, it's the emotion that we get, when we read the Psalms., even, even Christ, right? So he's in the garden and he, he's in despair.

he's asking the cup to pass. if there be any other way, let this cup pass. Yet nevertheless, your will be done, not mine, and he, and he, he knows, right? So he trusted the Lord.

In the promise that he was going to be exalted to the right hand of the Father, he'd be given a name that is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow, right, and every tongue would confess, and we're no different. So, we have promises throughout Scripture. with Ephesians 1, right? that's a, that's a go to, a go to passage for that.

But if we, you, you open to Ephesians 1 and you read through the 1st 13 verses, and man, we have promise after promise after promise. that the Lord has, has promised to give to his children. and, and, and while it doesn't, it doesn't negate the fact that we're going to, we're going to suffer, right? And, and we're going to have these, these feelings and these thoughts.

It is something that we can use to battle that, right? We, we have hope for the future, we can hope in God. so, with that, Are there any questions or comments or concerns from anybody? We tend to think if we start Private Yeah.

Right. it's Right. Yeah, that's a great point. So yeah, we're not alone, right?

And, and David, everybody hear that? I don't want to repeat it if everybody heard it. OK. Any other, any other thoughts, yeah.

Yeah, that's a good point. Excellent. Yeah, What's so beautiful about what we've been studying this morning is, and these Psalms of love. As we, a brother shared with me on Thursday night, Jones, I'm at my wits' end.

I'm at my wits' end. Yesterday there were 3 funerals. In Riverside Parents burying 19 and 20 year old sons. that have lost their lives in the last two weeks, Easter weekend.

It's just real. It's real life. Just cry now. But what's so beautiful about it is how David, I think without exception in every Psalm of lament at the end he always goes back to worship, and that's the, the beautiful model.

That as, parents in their 50s burying their 20-year-old son, where do they go with that? With with a God that's sovereign that's over these things, they have to at the end of the day. Go to their faces and cry out and worship. How hard is that?

Yeah, it's very real, very hard, and we definitely can't do it, can't do it alone, right? it's Joe, did you have something? No? is I think also understand OK.

They're not so unwelcome Here's a picture of it. tribulations Every is the Yeah, thank you, Alan. All right, any other thoughts? All right, so we did it with all the trouble.

but thank you, thank you everyone for, for participating, for, for reading along with me there, and, and for your thoughts. I, I really appreciate it. it was, it was awesome to be up here and to get to share some, some thoughts. So why don't we pray and we'll be, we'll be done.

God, you, God, you are good and you are greatly to be praised and we We thank you for the psalms and just for, for everything that's contained there, Lord, your character. Your attributes, The promises that we have, the, the despair that's there, Lord, so we can learn from it and, and, and, and, and sharing it and grow in our, in our walk with you, Lord, and I just pray, for all of us here, Lord, as we undoubtedly will suffer with difficult times and we'll go through good times, Lord, and that we would be, we would be mindful and, and cognizant of your goodness, and we would be, as Alvin pointed out, Lord, just reminding ourselves Daily of your goodness to us and be, be praising you for that, and preparing our hearts for times of trouble that come unannounced, Lord, would help us to, to have faith in your future grace that's coming.

you've never let us down in the past and we know that that is true also of the future. Lord, we have examples in scripture of your faithfulness and so let us cling to that and cling to you, Lord, and, and I just pray that you would become our exceeding joy, as we walk through each day, Father, we, we praise you, we love you and we say this in Jesus' name.

Amen.