Taylor Brown

July 27, 2025

Heart Problems

Guard Your Heart

Taylor Brown

July 27, 2025

Heart Problems

Introduction:

Guard Your Heart… (Proverbs 4:20–27)

With the WORD OF GOD (Proverbs 4:20–22)

Psalm 119:9–11 (ESV) – How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
1. Because it BRINGS TRUE LIFE (Prov 4:22a)
2. Because it BRINGS LASTING HEALING (Prov 4:22b)
With UNWAVERING VIGILANCE (Proverbs 4:23–27)

Luke 6:45 (ESV) – The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
1. By Watching WHAT YOU SAY (Prov 4:24)
  
  Proverbs 13:3 (ESV) – Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
2. By Controlling WHAT YOU FOCUS ON (Prov 4:25)
3. By Directing WHERE YOU GO (Prov 4:26–27)
  
  1 Kings 11:2–4 – ...for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love... For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods...

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:45-00:52
The Lord saved me at a young age, but my relationship with him wasn't really deep until I was a senior in high school.
00:53-00:59
At that time, I became a serious student of God's word, and I bought myself a nice new Bible.
01:00-01:04
Do you wanna see that nice and new Bible 16 years later?
01:05-01:05
All right, thanks.
01:06-01:07
I'll show Jay, Jay wants to see it.
01:08-01:09
Here's how it looks now.
01:10-01:10
How's it look?
01:13-01:17
Some of you get it, yeah, it does look good, in some ways, doesn't look great in other ways, though, does it?
01:17-01:21
You may be wondering, did you get run over by a lawnmower or something while you were reading it?
01:21-01:25
Well, nothing as dramatic as that, but for years, this Bible went everywhere with me.
01:26-01:31
I took it to Haiti, twice to Kenya, all the missions trips I led as a youth pastor.
01:31-01:35
I preached a lot of sermons and taught a lot of lessons from this Bible.
01:36-01:44
When I first bought it, I protected it, I guarded it, I kept it in the box it came in whenever I put it into my backpack or went on a trip.
01:46-01:51
But as years went by, I stopped protecting it with the box and I just hoped for the best.
01:52-01:55
And I kept getting more worn out, kept getting more beat up.
01:56-02:01
With each passing year, I kept looking worse and worse and worse and worse.
02:02-02:05
It really bummed me out to look at this Bible and what it had become.
02:07-02:11
Other people would comment on it as well, like, "Dude, you need to buy a new Bible "or get it rebalanced.
02:11-02:13
It's gonna fall apart any minute.
02:14-02:19
So I eventually took people up on that and I bought a nice leather-bound Bible.
02:20-02:29
And I learned my lesson with my old Bible because I still have the box for the new one and I still keep it in there all the time whenever I travel or put it into my backpack.
02:30-02:36
I am resolved to guard this copy of God's word moving forward.
02:37-02:39
It has immense value to me.
02:40-02:57
"It is precious to me, so I want to take care of it "by any means necessary." According to God's word, there is something of immense value within you that you often fail to consider and guard properly.
02:58-02:59
Your heart.
03:00-03:07
Your heart should be precious to you, and you should want to take care of it by any means necessary.
03:08-03:15
Over this past year, we have focused on one major theme from scripture, God wants your heart.
03:17-03:24
God wants your heart, but what if you don't want God like you used to?
03:27-03:30
What if you don't wanna give God your heart like you used to?
03:32-03:37
This is the final week of our latest series, Heart Problems, What to Do When You Don't Want God.
03:38-03:43
Every single person in this room has a heart problem of some kind.
03:44-03:54
It could be apathy in prayer, spiritual laziness and gratitude, an unrepentant sin in your life.
03:55-04:00
Thankfully, God has solutions to every single heart problem you can experience.
04:00-04:06
And over the past few weeks, we've discovered three of God's solutions to these heart problems.
04:06-04:12
evaluating your heart, confessing sin from your heart, and giving thanks with your heart.
04:14-04:28
Maybe at this point you're thinking, well Taylor, I'm good to go, I've done all those things, I've evaluated my heart, I've confessed sin from my heart, I've given thanks with my heart, time to move on from this series and go back to the Sermon on the Mount, thanks so much, I'm done with this.
04:29-04:37
Well not so fast, you are missing one important piece of the puzzle, and that is guarding your heart.
04:38-04:49
'Cause if you fail to guard your heart, you will lose all the progress that you've made over the past few weeks, and all the old heart problems that you had will return and intensify.
04:50-04:54
New heart problems will pop up and spiral out of control.
04:55-04:58
You must protect yourself from this danger.
04:58-05:08
You must do your best to resolve these heart problems when they first pop up, instead of ignoring them and leaving them undealt with.
05:09-05:16
We'll spend the rest of this message talking about what it looks like to guard your heart in action.
05:17-05:30
I want you to walk out of this series with a confidence that you can resolve heart problems right when they appear through God's power and with God's methods.
05:31-05:33
So before we continue, let's go to the Lord in prayer.
05:34-05:37
Please pray for me and I will pray for you.
05:42-05:51
Father, we come to you with a sense of weightiness, but we all have a heart problem of some kind right now.
05:52-05:53
None of us can say that we don't.
05:55-05:56
I pray that we can be honest about it this morning.
05:57-06:04
to bring those things to you so that you can change us, so that you can convict us, so that you can build us up.
06:04-06:06
Lord, I can do none of those things.
06:06-06:15
All I can do is share your word, but you are the only one who can use your word to change lives, and I ask that you would do that this morning.
06:16-06:19
I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
06:21-06:25
So over the past two Sundays, we spent a lot of time with King David in the Psalms.
06:26-06:33
This morning we're gonna spend some time with King David's son, Solomon, in Proverbs chapter four, verses 20 through 27.
06:34-06:39
So if you have a Bible with you, please turn to Proverbs chapter four, verses 20 through 27.
06:41-06:45
And as you turn there, let me give you a quick crash course on King Solomon.
06:46-06:51
At a young age, this man was given a blank check by God himself.
06:52-06:54
Name what you want, and I'll give it to you.
06:56-06:57
You ever think about how awesome that is?
06:57-06:58
Just imagine that.
06:59-07:03
What do you think you would ask for if God gave you that blank check?
07:05-07:07
Well, Solomon didn't ask for what was expected.
07:09-07:13
He didn't ask for riches, for honor, or the ability to fly.
07:13-07:14
That would've been really cool, though.
07:15-07:17
No, what does he ask for instead?
07:18-07:19
Wisdom.
07:20-07:28
Wisdom, which is the ability to apply God's word to every situation you experience and every decision that you make.
07:29-07:32
Wisdom is knowledge in action.
07:33-07:41
And God was so pleased with this answer that he still gave Solomon all the stuff he didn't ask for, minus the superpower of flight, he didn't get that.
07:42-07:50
But Solomon was blessed with so much material stuff, most importantly, with wisdom from God.
07:51-08:01
And he used this wisdom to accomplish a lot of great things like building the first temple, but later in life, he squandered that wisdom, which we'll talk about at the end of this message.
08:03-08:09
But the first nine chapters of Proverbs are written from the perspective of a father speaking to his son.
08:10-08:18
Solomon is addressing his own son, but he's also acting like a fatherly figure to anyone who listens to what he has to say.
08:20-08:21
His wise words should not be ignored.
08:22-08:23
They should not be forgotten.
08:24-08:26
They should be treasured.
08:27-08:33
And in these chapters, Solomon tells his son that wisdom is the most valuable thing.
08:33-08:36
It's better than silver, gold, or precious jewels.
08:38-08:41
He needs to seek after wisdom and get it.
08:41-08:45
He also warns his son against many things that he should not do.
08:46-08:52
But our main focus this morning is Solomon's words of wisdom about his son's heart.
08:53-09:02
That is the thing that Solomon is most concerned about because if your heart is wrong, it doesn't really matter what else you get right.
09:03-09:12
Solomon gives his son and everyone who reads Proverbs 4, 20 through 27, the same command, guard your heart.
09:13-09:17
So on your outline, guard your heart with the word of God.
09:18-09:21
Guard your heart with the word of God.
09:24-09:26
Let's read verses 20 through 21.
09:27-09:38
My son, be attentive to my words, incline your ear to my sayings, let them not escape from your sight, keep them within your heart.
09:40-09:50
These verses remind me a lot of conversations with my dad when I was younger, when he made it very clear that I should listen to what he had to say and not tune him out.
09:50-09:56
And I have very similar conversations with my own son that vary in their level of effectiveness and success.
09:57-10:06
In those moments, I want my son Sam to close his mouth, open his ears, and heed my warnings to listen to what I have to say.
10:07-10:15
But you have to remember that this instruction from an earthly father isn't the only thing happening in this passage.
10:16-10:20
Remember, this is the authoritative word of God.
10:22-10:28
It's not just the end of the Andy Griffith Show when Sheriff Andy sits down with Opie to give the major moral lesson.
10:29-10:34
No, your heavenly father is sitting you down to give you commands and instructions.
10:35-10:46
God himself is calling you to be attentive to his words, to incline your ears to his sayings, to not let them escape your sight, and to keep them within your heart.
10:48-10:51
That sounds very similar to Psalm 119, nine through 11.
10:52-10:55
How can a young man keep his way pure?
10:55-10:57
By guarding it according to your word.
10:58-11:00
With my whole heart I seek you.
11:00-11:02
Let me not wander from your commandments.
11:02-11:07
I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
11:08-11:15
You cannot guard your heart, fight sin, and lead a pure life apart from significant time in the Bible.
11:15-11:16
It's just not possible.
11:17-11:23
It's like trying to build a deck on the back of your house without any tools or any supplies of any kind.
11:24-11:28
You can have the best of intentions, but you will get nowhere fast.
11:30-11:33
It's not enough just to read the Bible.
11:34-11:37
You need to keep it, store it up in your heart.
11:38-11:39
How do you do that?
11:40-11:43
You push out other things to make room for it.
11:44-11:46
You kill the bad habits in your life.
11:46-11:52
You let go of those hobbies that hold you back and that vie for your attention.
11:52-11:56
You make room for God's word by memorizing it.
11:58-12:02
I know what some of you are thinking, Taylor, I can't memorize stuff, I have a horrible memory.
12:03-12:05
Let me share a universal truth with you.
12:06-12:07
you memorize what you care about.
12:09-12:11
You memorize what you care about.
12:13-12:20
If you love sports, you have a ton of information about players, games, teams, right at your fingertips at all times.
12:21-12:32
If you love golf in this room, you have a lot of information downloaded into your brain about the perfect golf swing, all the courses you want to play at in the world.
12:33-12:38
If you're a movie freak, you have film knowledge, directors, actors right in your brain.
12:38-12:41
What is the focus of your memorization?
12:42-12:46
What do you make the most room for in your heart?
12:48-12:55
John Bunyan, the man who wrote one of the best-selling books of all time, The Pilgrim's Progress, hundreds of years ago, was described in this way.
12:55-12:57
"This man is a living Bible.
12:57-13:00
"Prick him anywhere and he will bleed the Bible.
13:00-13:02
"The very essence of the Bible flows from him.
13:02-13:12
"He cannot speak without quoting a text, "for his very soul is full of the word of God." Is that description true of you?
13:14-13:17
I wish I fit this description far more than I do.
13:19-13:24
But this can describe you, it can describe me, if we grab a hold of the right motivations.
13:26-13:32
And let me tell you this morning, I have no desire to guilt you into spending more time in the Bible.
13:33-13:34
Do you want to know why?
13:36-13:39
Because that motivation won't last beyond the end of this week.
13:40-13:45
You may be diligent in studying, reading, praying this week, but it won't last any longer.
13:46-14:07
You need the motivation only God can provide. You need to believe that this book is far more important than anything else you can set your mind to or fill your time with. You must truly be convinced from your heart that that reading this book, studying it, living it, applying it, blesses and benefits you in every way and in every area of life.
14:09-14:17
My yelling, my nagging, my pestering may make you feel like a shamed dog who got bopped on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.
14:18-14:25
But those tactics will not make you love the instructions of your heavenly master even one bit more.
14:28-14:35
So let's talk about two motivations that will inspire you to guard your heart with the word of God.
14:36-14:41
So on your outline, guard your heart with the word of God because it brings true life.
14:42-14:44
Because it brings true life.
14:47-14:50
Let's check out the first half of verse 22.
14:51-14:55
For they are life to those who find them.
14:57-15:01
You are only as healthy as what you consume.
15:02-15:06
As the old saying goes, you are what you eat.
15:06-15:10
That is true both physically and spiritually.
15:10-15:15
Your physical well-being cannot rise above what you put into your body.
15:16-15:20
Your spiritual well-being cannot rise above what you put into your heart.
15:22-15:39
When he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8.3, "Man shall not live by bread alone, "but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." Maybe you are spiritually starving this morning because you have never feasted on the word of God.
15:39-15:44
You have never tasted the goodness of Jesus Christ in the gospel.
15:45-15:53
Listen, nothing and no one can satisfy your longings or cravings apart from Jesus Christ.
15:55-15:58
Stop poisoning yourself with the junk food of this world.
15:59-16:05
That diet will do nothing but make you sick, hurt your heart, and kill your eternal soul.
16:06-16:11
Life is offered to you today in the word of God.
16:12-16:24
Let go of the junk food of this world and grab a hold of Jesus Christ, who suffered, died, and rose again, so that you can have eternal life it starts now and lasts forever.
16:25-16:29
Grab ahold of Christ by faith and you will have that life.
16:32-16:40
Guard your heart with the word of God because it brings true life and because it brings true healing.
16:41-16:43
Because it brings true healing.
16:48-16:49
Let's read all of 22.
16:50-16:55
For they are life to those who find them and healing to all their flesh.
16:57-17:01
The word of God provides a remedy for every ailment.
17:01-17:04
It provides a solution to every heart problem.
17:04-17:07
This book is like the ultimate Swiss army knife.
17:08-17:12
It is multifaceted, multipurpose, and useful for every situation.
17:12-17:15
It is a genuine lifesaver.
17:16-17:26
I can't guarantee you much, But I guarantee you there is no trial, there is no discouragement, there is no relational issue that you cannot come to the word of God and find wisdom for.
17:27-17:36
There is no issue you'll come across and be like, ah, well, the Bible can't help me with this, time to buy a self-help book or watch that Lifetime movie, maybe that'll help me.
17:37-17:37
No.
17:38-17:47
The healing help you are looking for is in the word of God, it's right at your fingertips, you can have access to it every single second of every single day.
17:48-17:56
And the Lord has brought me so much healing personally by praying through scripture, especially through the Psalms.
17:57-18:10
The Psalms provide you a vocabulary for how to pray to God as you experience every emotion, anger, fear, frustration, confusion, sadness, excitement, joy.
18:13-18:14
Do you pray through scripture?
18:16-18:17
If you don't, let me teach you how to do it.
18:18-18:19
This is very complex.
18:20-18:21
Are you all ready for this?
18:21-18:22
All right, really pay attention.
18:24-18:26
Read a verse and then pray about it.
18:27-18:30
Read the next verse and then pray about it.
18:31-18:33
Read the next verse and then pray some more about it.
18:34-18:35
Rinse, wash, and repeat.
18:36-18:37
Can you do that?
18:38-18:39
You can do that.
18:40-18:41
Pray through God's word.
18:41-18:43
Pray through the Psalms.
18:45-18:46
Are you overwhelmed right now?
18:50-18:53
Are you at the lowest point that you've been in a long time?
18:54-18:57
Are you in need of healing?
18:58-19:05
Push out what the world has to say about you and your issues, make room for what God has to say about you and your issues.
19:05-19:12
Guard your heart with the word of God and you will experience the healing and the life that you are so desperate for.
19:15-19:20
Guard your heart, secondly, with unwavering vigilance.
19:21-19:23
With unwavering vigilance.
19:27-19:30
Verse 23 is the centerpiece of this entire passage.
19:30-19:35
It is one of the go-to verses when it comes to the importance of your heart.
19:35-19:36
Solomon writes this.
19:37-19:42
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
19:44-19:48
After a year of repetition, you may be tired of hearing it, but I'm going to say it again.
19:48-19:52
Your heart is who you really are on the inside.
19:54-19:56
Your heart is like a spring or a fountain.
19:56-19:59
Everything that you think, say, and do flows from it.
20:01-20:04
Most fountains only pour out what they are filled with.
20:05-20:11
If a decorative fountain is filled with contaminated water, it will only pour out unclean water that you shouldn't drink.
20:12-20:19
If a fondue fountain is filled with cheese and chocolate, you shouldn't be surprised when it only pours out cheese and chocolate.
20:21-20:25
Your heart is a fountain that will only pour out what it is filled with.
20:27-20:33
Have you ever come across a person who is rude in every situation and constantly rags on everyone?
20:34-20:36
And then someone comes along to defend this person.
20:37-20:43
Oh, well, you know, they might be rough around the edges, but deep down, he or she really is a nice and kind person.
20:45-20:46
What do we think about that?
20:46-20:47
Is that true?
20:48-20:48
Incorrect.
20:49-20:52
What is in that person's heart spews out of their mouth.
20:53-20:58
Their heart is full of resentment and disrespect, so it comes out in how they talk to everyone.
21:00-21:15
I can't put it any better than our Lord, when he said, "The good person out of the good treasure "of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
21:16-21:20
You show who you really are by what you say and by what you do.
21:22-21:30
And with that essential truth in mind, Solomon says, "Keep your heart with all vigilance." Vigilance.
21:31-21:34
Do you know who I think of when I hear that word?
21:35-21:36
McGruff the Crime Dog.
21:37-21:38
Does anyone remember McGruff?
21:38-21:45
He was a character in the '80s who was created to increase personal safety and awareness of crime.
21:46-21:51
He was a bloodhound in a trench coat who had a really deep and intimidating voice.
21:52-21:54
Does anyone know what his tagline was?
21:55-21:55
Anyone remember?
21:57-22:04
"Take a bite out of crime." McGruff set his sights on important issues like bullying, drug use, home invasion.
22:07-22:14
And he would just be so emphatic that you have to defend yourself, you have to have alarm systems, you have to have a deadbolt on your door.
22:14-22:23
McGruff wants you to be constantly aware and unwaveringly vigilant in order to guard your loved ones and yourself from the crime that wants to take a bite out of you.
22:26-22:36
Well, God himself wants you to be constantly aware and unwaveringly vigilant in order to guard your heart from the sin that wants to take a bite out of you.
22:37-22:42
You cannot take breaks or vacations from this vigilance.
22:43-22:47
Heart security is infinitely more important than home security.
22:48-22:52
Spiritually, your head needs to be on a swivel at all times.
22:52-22:56
You must be circumspect, not careless, cautious, not casual.
22:59-23:02
So what should you be on the lookout for?
23:03-23:07
How should you guard your heart with unwavering vigilance?
23:08-23:18
Well, next on your outline, guard your heart with unwavering vigilance by watching what you say, by watching what you say.
23:20-23:21
Let's read verse 24.
23:22-23:27
Put away from you crooked speech and put devious talk far from you.
23:29-23:31
Crooked speech and devious talk, what does that mean?
23:32-23:37
Well Solomon is saying don't mess around with lying and deception.
23:38-23:41
Do not bend the truth to fit your narrative.
23:41-23:45
Do not fudge the facts to get out of trouble with your spouse or your boss.
23:45-23:50
Don't stretch the truth to make yourself look more impressive than you actually are.
23:51-23:59
It's really tempting to believe that lying isn't a big deal as long as you only do it sometimes and don't make a habit out of it.
24:01-24:05
That is a stupid thought that you and I both fall for.
24:06-24:13
We've already established that you show who you are on the inside by what you say on the outside.
24:15-24:16
So let's run that through.
24:17-24:21
If you lie to others on the outside, who does that make you on the inside?
24:23-24:24
That makes you a what?
24:25-24:25
A liar.
24:27-24:27
It's that simple.
24:30-24:37
You cannot call yourself a lover of the truth if you constantly indulge in one of the activities that God hates the most.
24:39-24:48
Elsewhere in Proverbs it says, "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord." So should you mess around with something that is described so harshly?
24:49-24:50
No, we really shouldn't.
24:50-24:54
The pathway of Christian speech is straight, not crooked.
24:55-25:03
You need to walk the straight highway of God's truth instead of stumbling down those side roads of deception.
25:05-25:10
Put away crooked speech and devious talk by fessing up to how you've been deceitful.
25:12-25:17
Sit that person, sit those people down to unravel every single lie that you've told.
25:18-25:23
Those conversations sure won't be fun, but they sure will set your heart free.
25:24-25:41
Put away crooked speech and devious talk by entering into tough conversations, by praying to God, God, I know I'm gonna be tempted to be dishonest, I know I'm gonna be tempted to stretch the truth, guard my heart, help me to only say what is true, even if it costs me.
25:42-25:47
Put away crooked speech and devious talk by diving into Proverbs that talk about how you speak.
25:48-25:58
Proverbs like the one we're studying this morning, or Proverbs 13.3, whoever guards his mouth, preserves his life, he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
25:59-26:03
Be vigilant in guarding your heart by guarding your mouth.
26:04-26:08
Be vigilant in what you say and what you don't say.
26:10-26:18
Guard your heart with unwavering vigilance by controlling what you focus on, by controlling what you focus on.
26:19-26:25
So Solomon moves from what you say to where you look in verse 25.
26:26-26:36
"Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you." Where you look is where you'll end up.
26:38-26:41
Where you look is where you'll end up.
26:42-26:46
Imagine that after church, I take a nice long scenic drive.
26:46-26:51
I find myself on a row with a really steep embankment.
26:51-26:58
And for some reason, I stop looking directly ahead and my eyes start to wander to the embankment.
26:59-27:01
Keep looking at it, keep looking at it, keep looking at it.
27:02-27:05
If I keep doing that, where am I going to end up?
27:06-27:11
Smashing into the guardrail or through the guardrail and rolling down the embankment.
27:11-27:14
I will most likely get in a very serious accident.
27:16-27:22
I could have avoided that if I had kept my eyes looking directly forward where I should have been looking.
27:23-27:25
Where are you looking right now?
27:27-27:29
Are you looking where God wants you to look?
27:30-27:36
Or are you looking where the enemy wants you to look? Where the world wants you to look?
27:37-27:44
If you keep up with watching those corrupting movies and shows, you'll end up with those movies and shows rewriting your thinking.
27:44-28:02
If you keep up with mindlessly, endlessly scrolling on social media all hours of the day, you'll end up as a spiritual zombie, as an undisciplined slacker who doesn't give his or her family the time and attention that they deserve.
28:04-28:12
If you keep up with that pornography addiction, you will end up feeling very alone and ruining the good connection that you have with your spouse.
28:13-28:15
You become what you behold.
28:17-28:22
Be vigilant in guarding your heart by controlling where you look and what you focus on.
28:24-28:34
Finally, guard your heart with unwavering vigilance by directing where you go, by directing where you go.
28:36-28:39
Let's wrap up with verses 26 through 27.
28:40-28:44
Ponder the path of your feet, then all your ways will be sure.
28:44-28:46
Do not swerve to the right or to the left.
28:46-28:49
Turn your foot away from evil.
28:52-28:54
Staple this truth to your brain and never forget it.
28:55-29:00
You are one decision away from life-shattering disaster.
29:01-29:06
You can destroy all the trust that you've worked so hard to build up in an instant.
29:07-29:11
You can tear your reputation to shreds with one choice.
29:13-29:17
You can do serious damage if you're not careful of where you go.
29:19-29:21
Don't do what feels good.
29:21-29:23
Don't do what feels right.
29:23-29:24
Do what is good.
29:24-29:26
Do what is right.
29:26-29:28
Ponder the path of your feet.
29:29-29:32
Direct yourself to where you should go.
29:34-29:35
But here's the thing.
29:36-29:39
You can't ponder the path of your feet on your own.
29:40-29:44
You will go to the right or to the left if you isolate yourself.
29:44-29:49
You will not turn your foot away from evil if you try to go this way alone.
29:50-29:54
Direct yourself towards worshiping with God's people every single week.
29:55-29:59
Direct yourself towards intentional Christian community in small groups.
30:00-30:06
Direct yourself to honest and accountable relationships in the body of Christ.
30:08-30:17
If you have been on the outskirts of this church for weeks, months, or even years, I want to encourage you to dive in.
30:18-30:21
Take a risk, be vulnerable.
30:22-30:28
Listen, you may have been hurt in the past by a church, and I in no way want to nullify that or minimize that pain.
30:29-30:32
But that pain will not go away if you don't get involved in this church.
30:33-30:36
it will only get worse and worse and worse.
30:37-30:44
To truly be in community, to be truly known, to truly know others, it's always a risk.
30:45-30:47
It always requires you being vulnerable.
30:48-30:51
Take that step in faith and trust the Lord.
30:52-31:00
Trust that He will direct you to where you should go, that He will direct you towards greater maturity and connectedness in the body of Christ.
31:01-31:05
Please know that we love you and we want you here.
31:07-31:10
Be vigilant and guard in your heart by directing where you go.
31:12-31:18
At the end of this message, you may be thinking, well, Taylor, all this stuff that Solomon is saying is very obvious.
31:18-31:20
I already know all this stuff.
31:20-31:21
It's not complex.
31:23-31:23
You're right.
31:24-31:29
Keeping your heart, guarding your heart is not complex, except when it comes to actually doing it.
31:30-31:39
when theory becomes reality, when rubber meets the road, when your worldly desires experience a head-on collision with your godly affections.
31:43-31:49
Before we close a curtain on this series, I want to give you a word of warning from Solomon himself.
31:51-31:56
It's actually a warning from his own life because Solomon didn't listen to his own words.
31:58-32:02
As time went on, he didn't guard his heart with the word of God.
32:03-32:06
He didn't guard his heart with unwavering vigilance.
32:07-32:13
He was told time and time again, don't marry foreign wives from pagan nations who worship other gods.
32:14-32:18
If you do that, they will cause you to not be faithful to the Lord.
32:18-32:21
Solomon knew that, but he didn't listen.
32:22-32:26
Which leads to one of the saddest passages in the entire Old Testament.
32:27-32:29
Solomon clung to these in love.
32:29-32:35
He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines.
32:36-32:39
And his wives turned away his heart.
32:41-32:45
For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods.
32:46-32:52
And his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
32:54-32:57
What a heartbreaking end for Solomon.
32:58-33:01
What a serious warning for you and for me.
33:02-33:03
Solomon knew it all.
33:04-33:07
He knew what the right thing to do was, but he didn't do it.
33:08-33:10
He didn't guard his heart.
33:13-33:16
It's tempting to think, well, my heart seems like it's fine right now.
33:18-33:22
But then you fail to think, well, I'm gonna have heart problems moving forward.
33:24-33:29
You may not think that you have heart problems right now, and that you're free from them, but what about tomorrow?
33:31-33:32
What about next week?
33:33-33:34
What about next month?
33:34-33:35
What about next year?
33:36-33:36
Are you ready?
33:38-33:44
Evaluating your heart is not a once in a lifetime appointment it is a daily appointment with the Lord.
33:45-33:49
Confessing sin from your heart isn't something you just do once at your conversion, no.
33:49-33:52
It is a daily acknowledging and repenting of your sin.
33:53-33:58
Giving thanks with your heart isn't something that you just do in November when you're eating turkey with your family.
34:00-34:06
It is a daily discipline that shapes how you view God and how you view your own life.
34:07-34:11
Guarding your heart isn't just something you do when you have the time.
34:11-34:16
No, it's something you do 24/7, 365 days a year.
34:18-34:25
Guard your heart with the word of God because it is the only source of help, encouragement and strength that you can find.
34:26-34:32
Guard your heart with unwavering vigilance for from it flow the springs of life.
34:33-34:38
Your heart problems can only be solved by God's solutions.
34:39-34:39
Let's pray.
34:42-34:43
Father, we come to you.
34:46-34:50
And we acknowledge that there is something going on within all of us.
34:52-35:02
doubt, severe anxiety, constant complaining, a sin that we don't think anyone knows about, but you do.
35:04-35:06
Would help us to lay all those things at your feet.
35:07-35:13
Help us to seek after you for help, for encouragement, for strength.
35:13-35:16
Lord, we don't have the energy in ourselves to guard our hearts.
35:17-35:21
We don't have the passion that's needed within ourselves, but you do.
35:21-35:31
Give us your strength, give us your encouragement, give us your passion, so that we can guard our hearts, not just today, but every day moving forward.
35:32-35:35
We ask all these things in Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Proverbs 4:20-27

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
How do you guard your heart with the Word of God? How would you describe your devotional life and the ways it needs to improve?
What does it look like to be vigilant in guarding your heart? How have you been lazy in guarding your heart in the past?
What actions steps do you need to take moving forward?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Taylor Brown

July 20, 2025

Heart Problems

Give Thanks With Your Heart

Taylor Brown

July 20, 2025

Heart Problems

Introduction:

I Give Thanks with My Whole Heart… (Psalm 138)

Because God has Proven His Reliability to Me IN THE PAST (Psalm 138:1–3)
Because God is at Work in My Life RIGHT NOW (Psalm 138:6–7)

1 Corinthians 10:13 – No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Because God Will Not Give Up on Me IN THE FUTURE (Psalm 138:4–5; 8)

Philippians 2:9-11 – Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

2 Samuel 7:16 – And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.

Philippians 1:6 – And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Jude 24 – Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy…

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:48-00:50
I hope you're all doing well this morning.
00:51-00:52
I've had better days.
00:55-00:56
It took me forever to fall asleep last night.
00:56-00:58
I'm just so tired.
00:59-01:02
My neighbors were just blasting fireworks into all hours of the night.
01:03-01:06
Isn't it been like three weeks since the Fourth of July?
01:06-01:07
I just don't get it.
01:09-01:11
And then when I fell asleep, I couldn't stay asleep.
01:11-01:13
I have a bed that's too small.
01:13-01:15
I have a room that gets way too hot.
01:16-01:27
I have a pillow that isn't comfortable at all, and I just set the alarm really early this morning so I had to wake up and look presentable for all of you, and I stubbed my toe really hard, and it still hurts.
01:28-01:31
Oh, and I forgot to iron all my clothes.
01:31-01:34
So I had to do it all this morning, so I was way later than I wanted to be.
01:35-01:38
And so I was driving here, got stuck behind the slowest drivers in the entire world.
01:38-01:40
That just drives me insane.
01:41-01:44
It's like, don't you wanna get where you wanna go in this century?
01:44-01:48
You may not have things that you want to do, but there's things that I need to do, so move it.
01:49-01:53
Oh, and I also have the worst headache, so these lights aren't helping me at all.
01:55-01:56
Okay, time out.
01:57-02:00
Is anyone tired of listening to my complaining yet?
02:01-02:04
There is a resounding yes from the congregation.
02:05-02:11
It is so annoying when someone constantly complains and grumbles about everything.
02:13-02:18
This person's constant whining sounds like nails screeching across a chalkboard.
02:20-02:21
A quick question.
02:22-02:30
If that's how other people's complaining sounds to you, how do you think your complaining sounds to them?
02:32-02:32
Not much different.
02:34-02:35
Let's up the ante even more.
02:36-02:40
How do you think your constant complaining sounds to God?
02:41-02:43
Do you think he appreciates it?
02:44-02:45
No, he does not.
02:46-02:52
I know that complaining is bad for me and offends God.
02:53-02:59
And I am very sure that most of you know that complaining is bad for you and offends God.
03:00-03:02
So why do we keep doing it?
03:02-03:05
What is going on within us?
03:07-03:12
Well, this is the third week in our latest series called Heart Problems, what to do when you don't want God.
03:12-03:20
Over the past two Sundays, we've identified two different heart problems and their surgical solutions according to God's word.
03:21-03:27
We began by evaluating our hearts to see how serious of a heart surgery we truly need.
03:28-03:36
And last week, we discovered the heart problem of hidden sin, and the surgical solution to that problem is confession from the heart.
03:38-03:44
And this morning we will unpack a third heart problem and its surgical solution from Psalm 138.
03:45-03:46
Psalm 138.
03:48-03:55
Your heart problem this morning could be that you have a serious infection of negativity and complaining.
03:58-04:08
You struggle to truly appreciate all that God has given to you because you are so fixated on everything that God has not given to you.
04:10-04:12
In your mind, you deserve better.
04:12-04:13
You deserve more.
04:13-04:16
You deserve what you want.
04:19-04:20
Does that describe you right now?
04:22-04:25
How do you fix this heart problem?
04:27-04:33
The surgical solution to a negative and discontent heart is passionate praise and true thanksgiving.
04:34-04:38
You must actually give thanks from your heart.
04:40-04:45
So before we look into the solution any further, let's go to the Lord and ask for his help.
04:45-04:48
Please pray for me and I will pray for you.
04:53-05:03
Father, we come to you with one of our greatest struggles, with something that I am very sure that every single person in this room struggles with.
05:04-05:07
Lord, minister to us in a way that only you can.
05:08-05:12
Challenge us, convict us, but also comfort us and build us up.
05:13-05:15
We thank you in advance for what you will do.
05:16-05:21
We ask all this in the beautiful, wonderful, powerful name of Jesus Christ, amen.
05:23-05:30
If you're able, please stand in reverence for the reading of God's word as we read Psalm 138.
05:34-07:02
I Give you thanks. Oh Lord with my whole heart before the gods. I sing your praise I bow down boat towards your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness For you've exalted above all things your name and your word on The day I called you answered me My strength of soul you increased all the kings of the earth shall give you thanks. Oh Lord For they have heard the words of your mouth and they shall sing of the ways the Lord for great is the glory of the Lord For though the Lord is high he regards the lowly but the haughty he knows from afar Though I walk in the midst of trouble you preserve my life You stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies and your right hand delivers me The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me your steadfast love of the Lord endures forever Do not forsake the work of your hands you may be seated as You study this psalm you can't help but notice that David's Thanksgiving is divided up into three different sections the past the present and the future in In this Psalm, David slides back and forth in the timeline of history to find reasons to praise the Lord and give him thanks for his actions and his attributes.
07:03-07:06
And I want you to follow David's lead this morning.
07:06-07:22
I want you to be on the lookout for reasons to give thanks with your whole heart for what God has done in your past, what he is doing in your present, and what he will do in the future.
07:24-07:30
So I give thanks with my whole heart, firstly, because God has proven his reliability to me in the past.
07:31-07:38
I give thanks with my whole heart because God has proven his reliability to me in the past.
07:40-07:46
So David starts this psalm by declaring his complete total devotion to the Lord.
07:46-07:48
Let's read verses one through two again.
07:48-07:50
"I give you thanks, O Lord.
07:50-07:53
"With my whole heart, before the gods, I sing your praise.
07:53-08:00
"I bow down towards your holy temple "and give thanks to your name "for your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
08:01-08:12
"For you have exalted, above all things, "your name and your word." This isn't the prayer of a man who is dispassionate and disconnected.
08:13-08:15
This isn't the prayer of a man going through the motions.
08:16-08:21
David is overflowing with gratitude for God's faithfulness, his love, and his power.
08:22-08:26
David is saying the false gods of the other nations are worthless idols.
08:26-08:30
They get nothing from me while God gets everything from me.
08:30-08:34
They get my ridicule, God gets my praise.
08:34-08:40
Their words are worthless and accomplish nothing while God's word never fails me.
08:41-08:45
Their names do not matter while God's name is infinite.
08:47-08:52
David doesn't offer God some of his heart, or even most of his heart.
08:52-08:55
He offers God his whole heart.
08:56-08:59
This is what God wants and deserves from David.
09:00-09:04
This is also what God wants and deserves from you.
09:06-09:09
God isn't worthy of your leftovers.
09:10-09:12
He is worthy of your best.
09:13-09:16
God doesn't want you just to thank him when you remember.
09:17-09:27
He doesn't want you to treat him like the teenage cashier at the ice cream shop, who you begrudgingly tip with the lowest amount possible when the iPad screen is flipped around.
09:27-09:34
"Ah, fine, I guess I'll do it if I have to." Is that kind of attitude honoring to God?
09:36-09:42
Not on any level, but that is often how we approach the credit that he deserves.
09:43-09:53
Instead of stopping what we're doing to give him a heartfelt thank you, we throw a quick three second prayer up to him that is devoid of any emotion and energy.
09:54-10:00
Instead of immediately praising him, we immediately move on to the next thing and the next big concern.
10:01-10:05
This half-heartedness drains you of your joy.
10:06-10:10
This half-heartedness gives you spiritual amnesia.
10:11-10:17
You forget what God has done for you in the past, so you trust in yourself moving forward.
10:19-10:26
In verse three, David gets very specific with his thanksgiving and remembers how God has come through for him in the past.
10:28-10:30
On the day I called, you answered.
10:31-10:34
My strength of soul, you increased.
10:36-10:39
I am well aware that some of you are telephonophobics.
10:41-10:42
You hate talking on the phone.
10:43-10:45
When someone calls, you panic.
10:46-10:50
When you know you have to call someone else, you secretly hope that they won't pick up.
10:51-10:57
But even you telephonophobics in the room have had to make calls that you needed someone to answer.
11:00-11:04
Maybe you had an urgent question that required an immediate answer.
11:05-11:09
Maybe it was a serious issue at work that you need to solve right now.
11:10-11:13
Maybe it was even a matter of life or death.
11:14-11:18
Every single person in this room has a call of this kind in their past.
11:19-11:21
Put yourself into that tense mindset.
11:21-11:23
Try to remember how you felt.
11:26-11:30
Let me ask you, when you called, did that person answer?
11:33-11:34
Did they come through for you?
11:37-11:41
Other people cannot always come through for you no matter how reliable they might seem.
11:42-11:46
Friends and family members cannot always answer when you call.
11:47-11:49
But that is not true of God.
11:49-11:52
He always picks up, He always answers.
11:52-11:58
God doesn't screen your prayers and say to Himself, oh, this guy again, I don't have time to deal with him right now.
11:58-11:59
That has never happened.
11:59-12:02
God doesn't send you to voicemail.
12:02-12:06
God is always ready and willing to answer you when you call.
12:09-12:14
But God's help may not come in the form that you expected or hoped for.
12:16-12:26
At some point, every single one of us in this room have had this exact thought or said this exact thing, God didn't answer my prayer.
12:29-12:30
Is that true?
12:32-12:36
Well, it really depends on what you mean by answer.
12:37-12:43
If by answer you mean that God says yes, then God didn't answer your prayer.
12:44-12:51
But that definition captures our experience of the situation more than the reality of the situation.
12:52-12:55
It captures our feelings more than the facts.
12:56-13:01
That definition misses the big picture what God is up to behind the scenes.
13:01-13:06
God answering your prayers doesn't mean that he always answers with a yes.
13:08-13:12
But it does mean that God always responds.
13:13-13:16
And sometimes that response is no or wait.
13:17-13:19
And you never want that answer, do you?
13:21-13:23
I never want that answer either.
13:25-13:32
Again, every single one of us in this room can think of a time when we called to God and he answered with a no.
13:34-13:37
You prayed for healing and healing didn't come.
13:39-13:43
You asked for that big promotion and it went to someone far less deserving.
13:44-13:54
You asked for the Lord to use your witness and your positive example to make an impact on your prodigal child, but there is no positive reception.
13:56-14:02
You call out to the Lord and ask for that baby that you've always wanted, but that room is still empty.
14:04-14:09
That no can be so confusing and devastating.
14:10-14:15
What reason could God possibly have to say no to that request?
14:17-14:18
I don't know.
14:20-14:23
I don't wanna patronize you or minimize your pain.
14:24-14:28
I don't want to give you a hallmark card answer and tell you to not be sad and upset.
14:29-14:32
Listen, it's okay to be sad and upset.
14:34-14:36
Seasons of sorrow are unavoidable.
14:37-14:39
I've gone through these times in the past and I will again.
14:41-14:45
You've gone through these times of sorrow and you may be experiencing it right now.
14:47-14:52
I truly don't know the exact reason that God said no to that request when you called to him.
14:54-14:54
But he does.
14:56-14:58
God never says no for no reason.
15:00-15:02
Everything he does is purposeful.
15:02-15:05
God never wastes your pain.
15:05-15:08
Everything you go through has meaning.
15:11-15:18
As I meditated upon these truths over the past week, I couldn't help but think of the hymn, "God Moves in a Mysterious Way," which says this.
15:19-15:23
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace.
15:24-15:28
Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face.
15:29-15:33
God's purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour.
15:33-15:37
The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower.
15:40-15:46
Why God said no back then may never make sense in this life, but it will in eternity.
15:48-15:55
And those times when God said no often drown out and obscure the times that he said yes.
15:56-15:59
So I want you to stop focusing on the no's for a minute.
16:01-16:07
I want you to start thinking about the times when you called to God and he answered you with a yes.
16:07-16:08
Consider that.
16:14-16:21
Were you able to think of some clear examples when God said yes and proved his reliability to you in the past.
16:23-16:26
Maybe you experienced a season of dark, deep depression.
16:26-16:35
You called out to God and he answered you with a yes by sending you a friend who loved you, who encouraged you, who prayed for you, who listened to you.
16:37-16:47
Maybe you called out to God when you had no idea how to handle a specific situation and he gave you a yes by providing you wisdom from his word.
16:49-16:58
Maybe you experienced a broken relationship and you called out to God and he answered with a yes by bringing restoration and putting all the pieces back together again.
17:00-17:02
Or how about the most important yes of all?
17:03-17:11
You realize you were a sinner, you called out to God asking for forgiveness and salvation and God answered with a yes by giving it to you.
17:12-17:18
I could keep going for days, weeks, months, and years because there is no end to what God has done for you.
17:19-17:23
Friends, God has been so good to you in the past.
17:25-17:26
Do you recognize that?
17:27-17:28
Do you believe that?
17:31-17:37
There have been so many times when you recognize his goodness and you praised him for it.
17:39-17:43
But there have been many more times when you didn't recognize his goodness or praised him.
17:45-17:50
And thankfully, God's goodness wasn't taken away from you didn't recognize it.
17:51-17:55
God still gives good gifts to his children, even when his children don't say thank you.
17:56-18:05
But in those moments when you didn't acknowledge what God had done and say thank you to him, the strength of your soul was diminished and depleted.
18:06-18:13
Your strength of soul was like a balloon, and ungratefulness was the needle that popped that balloon and left it deflated on the floor.
18:16-18:18
That may be how you feel this morning.
18:18-18:20
You're just deflated.
18:21-18:23
You're just kinda there.
18:23-18:24
You're down and out.
18:27-18:32
Could it be that you have a heart problem because you are ungrateful for what God has done for you?
18:34-18:41
No matter how hard your life has been, God's fingerprints of kindness are all over your story.
18:42-18:48
You simply need the eyes of faith to see these evidences of grace I miss them completely.
18:49-18:56
Like David, give thanks with your whole heart because God has proven his reliability to you in the past.
18:57-19:05
Give thanks with your whole heart for what God has done for you and your strength of soul will be increased.
19:07-19:12
I give thanks with my whole heart because God is at work in my life right now.
19:14-19:16
God is at work in my life right now.
19:18-19:20
I'm gonna break some preaching rules here for a minute.
19:21-19:22
Who wants to break the rules with me?
19:23-19:27
All right, some of you, I guess most of you are rule keepers besides Darla and Jay, I guess we'll go with it.
19:28-19:31
So we're gonna skip past verses four through five for now.
19:32-19:34
We're not gonna skip them entirely, we'll come back to them.
19:34-19:36
We're gonna move on to verses six through seven.
19:36-19:39
Don't worry, this will all make sense very soon.
19:41-19:45
We spent some time focusing on what God has done for David.
19:46-19:50
Now let's focus on what God is doing for David in verses six through seven.
19:51-19:56
For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.
19:57-20:01
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life.
20:01-20:06
You stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies and your right hand delivers me.
20:08-20:16
We don't know the backstory of the Psalm of trouble David is experiencing, all we know is he needs his life to be preserved.
20:17-20:24
He has enemies that the Lord needs to stretch out his hands against. David needs deliverance.
20:26-20:29
Your problems seem like the biggest deal in the entire world, don't they?
20:32-20:40
When you're going through trouble, you often feel like you're the only one in the entire world who is experiencing what you're experiencing.
20:41-20:43
Is that actually the case?
20:44-20:45
Not at all.
20:45-20:49
Literally every person in the world has something going on right now.
20:49-20:51
Everyone has a problem.
20:52-20:53
Everyone has trouble.
20:54-21:01
And David is well aware where his life, where his troubles, where his problems rank on the order of importance.
21:02-21:05
Compared to God, he is nothing and nobody.
21:07-21:22
David acknowledges that he is lowly, but he actually rejoices in that truth because even though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty, the proud, the arrogant, he knows from afar.
21:24-21:33
If you exalt yourself to the position of the movie star of your life, you will not be in a position to receive God's help.
21:34-21:36
you will dismiss what he has to offer.
21:38-21:44
But if you rightly acknowledge that God is the star, you will receive help from him.
21:47-21:49
God is big, but he still loves little people.
21:50-21:54
God is great, but he still blesses the unremarkable.
21:55-21:59
God is supremely important, but he still serves the unimportant.
22:01-22:09
You may be painfully aware that you are unimportant, unremarkable, and little.
22:11-22:12
But that is a good thing.
22:12-22:15
That means the Lord has regard for you.
22:16-22:18
God cares for you.
22:18-22:20
He pays attention to you.
22:21-22:24
God's helping hand is offered to you at all times.
22:25-22:31
You can either push away this helping hand in pride or you can grab a hold of it in humility.
22:34-22:36
I need God's help right now.
22:38-22:40
You need God's help right now.
22:42-22:45
You are in the midst of some kind of trouble.
22:47-22:48
Maybe you're being attacked.
22:50-22:52
Someone at work is gunning for you.
22:53-22:56
A family member or friend is making life miserable for you.
22:57-22:59
Your integrity is being called into question.
23:00-23:03
You may have a target on your back, but God preserves your life.
23:04-23:11
You may have enemies who are seeking to destroy you, but God stretches out his hand against the wrath of your enemies.
23:11-23:13
His right hand delivers you.
23:15-23:26
Fair warning, God may not deliver you from experiencing that hardship, but he delivers you from giving up as you experience that hardship.
23:28-23:33
His right hand delivers you from anger, bitterness, resentment, isolation.
23:36-23:40
You may be enduring the most intense season of temptation you've ever encountered.
23:41-23:46
You feel like you can't say no one more time that any day now you're gonna break.
23:51-23:54
But you can stand strong because God preserves you.
23:55-23:58
He will stretch his hand against that temptation.
23:58-24:04
If you believe that he can, his right hand delivers you from giving in.
24:05-24:08
Listen to this promise from 1 Corinthians 10, 13.
24:08-24:12
No temptation is overtaking you that is not common to man.
24:12-24:21
God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.
24:22-24:28
Something that God has taught me recently is that he most often delivers you through trust in his promises.
24:29-24:33
There is nothing more powerful and dependable than a promise from God.
24:34-24:45
If you're experiencing intense temptation, grab a hold of this promise and don't let go so you will experience deliverance and find the way of escape.
24:47-24:52
Maybe you need delivered from the ultimate enemies of Satan, sin, and death.
24:53-24:57
You are under the power of the evil one in this evil world.
24:57-24:59
You are a slave to sin.
24:59-25:02
You are bound for eternal death.
25:03-25:06
You are like that toddler running towards the road.
25:07-25:12
And there will be a horrible fate unless that child is grasped by a loving father.
25:13-25:17
Ask this father to preserve you and give you eternal life.
25:17-25:21
Ask him to stretch out his hand against the wrath of your enemies.
25:21-25:26
ask for his right hand to grab ahold of you and deliver you from the fate that you deserve.
25:29-25:36
A truck of hell is barreling down, but God will rescue you if you ask him to.
25:40-25:46
No matter what trouble you were walking through, God is at work in your life right now.
25:47-25:54
You can't say, yeah, God sure was at work back in the day, but he hasn't done anything for me lately.
25:54-25:57
No, God is preserving your life even when you don't know it.
25:58-26:01
He is stretching out his hand against enemies that you don't even know you have.
26:02-26:03
God is delivering you all the time.
26:06-26:10
God isn't like the lifeguards at the pool or the beach who clock in and clock out.
26:10-26:16
For many hours of the day, their flotation devices are hung up and those chairs are empty.
26:17-26:19
But God is always on duty.
26:21-26:25
He who keeps you from drowning, He keeps your head above water.
26:25-26:28
God is always on His heavenly throne.
26:30-26:32
Listen to Psalm 121, one through four.
26:33-26:37
I lift up my eyes to the hills from where does my help come from?
26:38-26:40
My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.
26:41-26:42
He will not let your foot be moved.
26:43-26:44
He who keeps you will not slumber.
26:45-26:49
Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
26:51-26:53
God is not asleep on the job.
26:54-26:55
God is not taking a break.
26:55-26:57
He is not packing up his office.
26:58-26:59
God is helping you.
27:00-27:01
God is fighting for you.
27:02-27:08
Give thanks with your whole heart because God is at work in your life right now.
27:11-27:17
I give thanks with my whole heart, finally, because God will not give up on me in the future.
27:19-27:21
God will not give up on me in the future.
27:23-27:31
Let's rewind back to verses four through five, but this rewind is actually a fast forward as David gives thanks for what God will do.
27:33-27:42
All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth, and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.
27:45-27:48
In 2025, this scene seems very unlikely, doesn't it?
27:50-27:57
I mean, how many presidents, politicians, dictators, and governments truly fear God and worship Him?
27:59-27:59
Not many.
28:00-28:04
God is openly mocked and dishonored. His people are belittled.
28:04-28:08
People are even put into prison and martyred for their faith.
28:09-28:14
So many world leaders do not recognize the One who put them into power in the first place.
28:14-28:21
But despite this hostility, the message of the gospel is still advancing and spreading among the nations.
28:22-28:31
People of different backgrounds, positions, and levels of influence are hearing the words of God's mouth, being saved, giving thanks, and praising Him.
28:33-28:44
And one day, all leaders of the earth will retire from their positions and vacate their offices as one rightful ruler reigns supreme.
28:44-28:46
And who is this rightful ruler?
28:47-28:51
Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
28:53-28:56
And Paul speaks to this future in Philippians 2, 9-11.
28:56-29:12
"Therefore God has highly exalted him "and bestowed on him the name as above every name, "so that at the name of Jesus, "every knee should bow in heaven and on earth "and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
29:15-29:31
One day, there will be no more elections, no more protests, no more corruption, no more political news channels, no more war, no more threat of nuclear attack.
29:32-29:35
There will be only praise and thanksgiving.
29:36-29:46
"The glory of the Lord will cover the earth "as the waters cover the sea." And this future isn't a maybe, a might be, or let's hope so.
29:46-29:48
No, this future is set in stone.
29:48-29:50
It is certain fact.
29:50-29:55
You can resist it all you want, but it will come to pass.
29:57-30:05
While the immediate future of this world is uncertain, God's ultimate future is not in question.
30:06-30:14
In verse eight, focuses on David's future and the purpose that God has for David's life, his throne, and his house.
30:15-30:18
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.
30:18-30:21
Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
30:21-30:24
Do not forsake the work of your hands.
30:26-30:34
The same God who will cause kings and leaders to bow down before him will fulfill David's purpose as well.
30:35-30:44
Actually, it is through fulfilling David's purpose that God will fulfill this ultimate future for his people and his creation.
30:45-30:46
Help me with a quick reminder.
30:47-30:50
From whose family line does King Jesus come?
30:52-30:54
From King David's line.
30:56-31:06
Listen to the promise that the Lord made to David in 2 Samuel 7, 16, "In your house and your kingdom "shall be made sure forever before me." "the throne shall be established forever.
31:07-31:12
"This purpose has been fulfilled "and will further be fulfilled in Christ.
31:12-31:16
"This promise has been kept "and will be further kept in Christ.
31:17-31:21
"David's throne has been established "and will be established forever.
31:22-31:33
"And the one who sits on this throne "is none other than Jesus Christ himself." David trusts in God's future plans.
31:34-31:37
but he still cries out to the Lord and offers this prayer.
31:37-31:46
"Do not forsake the work of your hands." This may sound like doubt, but it isn't.
31:47-31:50
This is a cry of dependence and neediness.
31:51-31:56
David is saying, "God, please keep your promises to me.
31:56-31:59
"Without you, I am completely sunk.
31:59-32:04
"Do not forsake the work of your hands." This has become my new favorite prayer request.
32:05-32:10
I've lost count of how many times I've prayed it over the past week, and you should pray it as well.
32:10-32:11
God, keep your promise.
32:12-32:14
Do not forsake the work of your hands.
32:16-32:19
David's personal future is set in stone.
32:19-32:21
It is a certain fact.
32:22-32:25
The same is true for you if you're a follower of Christ.
32:26-32:29
God will fulfill his purpose for you.
32:30-32:34
He will keep every single promise that he has made to you in his word.
32:35-32:38
His steadfast love for you will endure forever.
32:40-32:50
If you don't believe me, Paul backs up this truth in Philippians 1.6, and I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
32:51-32:59
In Jude 1.24, that God will keep you from stumbling and present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy.
33:02-33:07
The steadfastness of God is so foreign to us because we give up on things all the time.
33:08-33:16
You start a brand new read that you're so excited for, but then it puts you to sleep, so then you sell it, you send it to Goodwill, you put it back on the shelf.
33:17-33:20
You watch a movie that's boring, so you turn it off.
33:22-33:28
You start a new diet or exercise routine, but you get distracted and you give up on that.
33:29-33:33
You start a new hobby, but you get very distracted and very bored very quickly.
33:33-33:36
You start something, but you don't finish it.
33:36-33:38
God never does that.
33:39-33:41
God doesn't operate like that at all.
33:41-33:44
God will not forsake the work of his hands.
33:44-33:47
God will not give up on you someday.
33:47-33:49
God will hold on to you.
33:50-33:53
He will finish what he started in you.
33:56-34:02
And it's so easy to believe these truths intellectually, but it's hard to feel in your heart.
34:04-34:11
You often feel that God's love for you is an up and down, up and down roller coaster that's based on your performance.
34:12-34:15
If you're a good boy or a good girl, God's happy with you.
34:16-34:20
If you're a bad boy or a bad girl, God's very unhappy with you.
34:22-34:26
But God's love for you doesn't depend upon you and your performance at all.
34:26-34:31
God's love for you depends on Christ and his perfect performance on your behalf.
34:32-34:38
If God's love for me depended on my good deeds, my good works, he would have stopped loving me a long time ago.
34:39-34:46
But because his love depends on Christ who is perfect and obeyed in every way that I failed, his love for me will last forever and ever and ever.
34:47-34:49
And that is true for you if you belong to him.
34:52-35:00
If you have trusted in Christ, God gives you the same exact message that I give to my kids every single night before I put them to bed.
35:01-35:07
I love you when you're good, I love you when you're bad, I love you when you listen, I love you when you don't listen.
35:08-35:10
I'm your dad no matter what.
35:11-35:15
Isn't the assurance of God's love a cause for celebration?
35:16-35:21
Isn't his steadfastness worthy of your thanksgiving and your praise?
35:23-35:33
Instead of stressing out about what's ahead, choose to give thanks with your whole heart because God will not give up on you in the future.
35:34-35:38
Give thanks with your whole heart for what God will do.
35:40-35:47
I doubt that anyone in this room has a heart that is completely free from negativity and complaining.
35:48-35:51
You and I complain about something every single day.
35:52-35:55
And many of us complain about many things most days.
35:57-36:01
Discontentment is a serious heart problem that you shouldn't take lightly.
36:03-36:09
Dissatisfaction is an acid that eats away at your heart, your ministry, your walk with the Lord.
36:09-36:14
The only surgical solution to that heart problem of ingratitude is gratitude.
36:15-36:16
You must give thanks.
36:18-36:20
It's not enough to just feel thankful.
36:21-36:22
You have to verbalize it.
36:22-36:24
You have to express it.
36:26-36:30
You must acknowledge and verbalize your thankfulness for the attributes and actions of God.
36:32-36:42
We've spent a lot of time talking about giving thanks, but it would be a big failure on my part if I didn't give you the opportunity to actually give thanks.
36:43-36:50
In a moment, you will find some people around you, and you're gonna praise the Lord together with your whole hearts.
36:51-36:53
Come together to give thanks for who God is.
36:54-36:57
Think about this God we saw in Psalm 138.
36:58-37:09
He is loving, he is steadfast, he is faithful, he is glorious, he is worthy, he is high and exalted, he is the king of all, he is the preserver and sustainer, He is a promise keeper.
37:10-37:17
Also give thanks with your whole hearts for what God has done, what he is doing, and what he will do.
37:18-37:21
So find some people around you and give thanks together.
37:24-37:31
Father, we come to you and we thank you so much, first and foremost, for the gift of your son.
37:33-37:45
We thank you that your son came to live a perfect life we never could. And he endured hell on the cross that we could experience heaven forever.
37:47-38:35
Well, there are people in this room who don't have the hope of heaven that don't have a true relationship with Christ made today be the day of salvation. So they can give thanks to you both now and forever. And for the rest of us, Lord, help us to continually give thanks to not give ourselves over to discontentment and complaining, but to always recognize your goodness. And to know that every single day is a fresh pouring out of your mercy and your grace for us. We thank you for what you have done. We thank you for what you are doing. And we thank you for what you will do. We ask all these things in In Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Psalm 138

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
If we know it’s so bad for us, why do we complain so much? What do you complain about the most?
How has the Lord proven Himself reliable to you in the past? Take some time to thank the Lord for what He has done.
How is the Lord at work in your life right now? Praise Him for what He is doing.
How will the Lord fulfill His purposes for you in the future? Give Him thanks for what He will do for you.

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Taylor Brown

July 13, 2025

Heart Problems

Confess From Your Heart

Taylor Brown

July 13, 2025

Heart Problems

Introduction:

Why Should I Confess from My Heart? (Psalm 51)

Because My God is MERCIFUL AND LOVING (Ps 51:1–2)
Because My Sin INSULTS GOD (Ps 51:3–6)

2 Samuel 12:9 – “Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in His sight?”
Because My Heart NEEDS RENOVATION (Ps 51:7–12)
Because My Worship and Witness is HINDERED BY HIDDEN SIN (Ps 51:13–19)

James 5:16 – Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:47-00:50
Who has ever received a bad haircut?
00:51-00:56
Don't point to the person next to you, I'm asking you personally, that'd be really rude.
00:57-01:03
When I was a kid back in the mid-90s, I got a bad haircut.
01:03-01:07
My barber really messed up my bowl cut.
01:08-01:19
And that may sound like an oxymoron because you think, well, a bowl cut's already kind of messed up, and they're all kind of lame, It might actually look pretty good for bowl cuts, except for this one time.
01:20-01:27
And for the rest of this story, I'm gonna shift to my mom's perspective to give the story some more dramatic weight.
01:27-01:33
So we get home from the haircut, and later on that day, my mom goes into the bathroom to find quite the crime scene.
01:34-01:38
There's hair everywhere, and there are scissors right on the sink.
01:39-01:45
My mom didn't need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out what had happened because there is an abundance of evidence right in front of her face.
01:46-01:52
I had obviously tried to fix my bowl cut and made it way worse in the process.
01:53-01:57
And like any good detective, my mom tried to get me to confess.
01:59-02:11
She came up to me and said, "Taylor, "did you cut your hair?" And I said, "No, I didn't." Even though there was a huge chunk missing right out of the front of my bowl cut.
02:13-02:29
"Why don't you and your mom try a different approach?" "Well, I found hair in the sink, I found scissors, "and there's a huge chunk just gone from your hair." And I kept digging my own grave, "No, that lady messed it up." And my mom tried one last attempt.
02:29-02:40
She said, "Taylor, you're not gonna be in trouble "for cutting your hair, but you will be in trouble "if you keep lying and you don't tell the truth." Well, that was the final straw.
02:40-02:46
I finally broke down and I confessed like in one of those over the top crime dramas on TV.
02:46-02:52
I told my mom everything even though she already knew everything.
02:53-02:56
And I'm sure that many of you have a similar story to tell.
02:58-03:04
Isn't it interesting that no one has to train you to cover up what you're ashamed of?
03:06-03:08
It comes so naturally to you.
03:09-03:12
It started at a young age and even continues to this day.
03:12-03:17
You knock over something very valuable in your house as a kid and it shatters on the ground.
03:18-03:19
What do you do?
03:20-03:22
You pick up all the pieces and you try to hide it somewhere, right?
03:23-03:27
But you're just a kid so your hiding place stinks and your parents find it almost immediately.
03:29-03:32
You hit your brother or sister and they start to weep and to wail.
03:34-03:34
What's your response?
03:35-03:39
You cover their mouth and threaten him or her not tattle, to your parents.
03:41-03:48
You finally get your driver's license and you promised your parents you will take care of their car, but then you immediately scratch it.
03:50-03:50
What do you do?
03:51-03:56
You try to buff out that scratch and try to cover it up with the cheapest paint you can find?
03:57-03:58
Or how about now?
03:59-04:03
At work, you make a very serious and embarrassing mistake.
04:04-04:06
What's your first blush response?
04:07-04:12
to say nothing and hope that no one notices what you did.
04:14-04:16
Hiding is easy.
04:17-04:19
Coming clean is hard.
04:20-04:31
You and I struggle to confess our sins to other people, and we also struggle to tell God everything that we have done, even though he already knows what we have done.
04:33-04:42
This reluctance to be honest about our failures reveals that we have deep issues within our hearts that we cannot ignore.
04:43-04:48
This is the second week of our latest series, Heart Problems, What to Do When You Don't Want God.
04:49-04:56
No matter who you are or how long you've been a Christian, you have a heart problem of some kind right now.
04:57-04:59
Maybe it's spiritual laziness.
05:01-05:03
Maybe it's indifference to the things of God.
05:03-05:14
Maybe it's a lack of connection with the Lord in prayer, or maybe it's serious doubts that you have about the Christian faith, or a habitual sin that is hidden.
05:17-05:22
All of these problems require a surgical solution and not a quick fix.
05:24-05:33
Last week we studied the parable of the sower and unpacked the importance of evaluating our hearts to see how serious of a heart surgery the Lord needs to give us.
05:34-05:46
This morning we will dig into Psalm 51 as the Lord lays out the importance of another surgical solution that we must cooperate with and participate in, confession of sin.
05:48-05:51
Is this the most popular of topics in the church today?
05:53-05:58
Sin is often affirmed and accepted rather than confessed.
05:59-06:03
And this is why there are so many unhealthy and dying churches.
06:04-06:12
This is why there are so many unhealthy human hearts within those churches that are spiritually withering away.
06:14-06:26
For you to get better, the infection of hidden sin needs to be pulled out by the root, and the method of that extraction is heartfelt confession to the Lord.
06:28-06:36
And your natural response to a message like this, A passage like this will be to inwardly cross your arms and dig in your heels.
06:37-06:40
And I wanna plead with you not to do that.
06:41-06:47
Lower your defenses and prepare your heart for what God is going to command you to do.
06:48-06:52
So let's go to the Lord and ask for his help because we certainly need it.
06:54-06:58
Father, we come to you and we admit that we so often hide from you.
06:58-07:03
We're like Adam and Eve, foolishly hiding in the garden You can see them right there.
07:06-07:10
Lord, there are people in this room who have others fooled, but they do not have you fooled.
07:12-07:22
I pray that today would be the day of revealing what has been hidden to others, of confessing to you what you already know.
07:22-07:28
And we thank you for the healing, we thank you for the change that you will bring through this genuine confession.
07:30-07:32
I ask all these things in Jesus' name, amen.
07:34-07:38
Now turn your Bibles to Psalm 51, Psalm 51.
07:42-07:52
It's important to note that you should never skip the descriptions at the beginning of many of the Psalms because these descriptions give you helpful background information.
07:53-08:06
Skipping these descriptions would be like fast-forwarding through the first two minutes of Star Wars as the music blasts, the logo appears, and the background text of the story scrolls on the screen in front of you.
08:06-08:15
If you fast forward through that, you're gonna miss a lot of helpful background information that will really lead you to not fully understand the story.
08:15-08:18
And the same is true for this description at the beginning of Psalm 51.
08:18-08:24
If you skip it, you're not gonna understand why David wrote it in the first place.
08:24-08:26
So let's see what he says.
08:26-08:34
with the choir master a psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
08:36-08:44
David may have been a great king of Israel and a man after God's own heart, but he was not free from sin and heart problems.
08:45-08:45
Far from it.
08:46-08:48
He committed adultery and murder.
08:50-08:53
He had sex with a woman who was not his wife.
08:54-08:56
and he thought everything was under wraps.
08:57-08:58
And no one knew.
08:59-09:02
But then Bathsheba gets pregnant.
09:02-09:06
And the problem is, she's married to a man named Uriah.
09:07-09:13
Instead of confessing what he had done, David decides to have Uriah killed in battle.
09:14-09:19
Then he moves Bathsheba into his house, they get married, and they have their child.
09:21-09:25
It seems once again that David got away with these things, got free.
09:26-09:27
But he hadn't.
09:28-09:31
Who was the one who saw what David had done?
09:33-09:36
God himself, the one who sees all things.
09:37-09:40
We are told this in 2 Samuel 11, 27.
09:40-09:45
But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
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And God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David in his sin, and thankfully David doesn't cross his arms and dig in his heels, no, he confesses, and he acknowledges what he had done.
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And he accepts the consequences for his sin, which is the death of his son, who was a result of this affair, and violent division within his own family moving forward.
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And after this confrontation, David writes one of the rawest, most hard-hitting songs in the entire Bible in Psalm 51.
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David honestly confessed his sin from the heart.
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I know you may be wondering after all this setup, Taylor, I'm certainly not a perfect person.
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I've made mistakes in the past, but I've never done anything as bad as David.
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I'm actually a pretty good person.
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I'm nice to other people.
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Why should I confess from my heart?
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Some of you have a different thought that ends with the same exact question.
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I see why David should confess his sin.
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He lived in the Old Testament, but I'm a Christian living after the New Testament.
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I'm covered by the grace of Jesus Christ.
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All of my sin has been forgiven.
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Why should I confess from my heart?
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Well, that is a great question that we're gonna spend the rest of this message answering.
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Why should I confess from my heart?
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Reason number one, because my God is merciful and loving.
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My God is merciful and loving.
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David kicks off this psalm by getting as low as he can as fast as he can.
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He humbles himself before his maker and admits his need for compassion.
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In verses one through two, let's read that together.
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"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, "according to your abundant mercy.
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"Blot out my transgressions.
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"Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity "and cleanse me from my sin." David makes zero excuses for his sin.
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He doesn't try to minimize what he has done or try to lessen its seriousness, like celebrities and politicians who get caught in underhanded scandals.
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You know what I'm talking about, right?
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You ever seen those press conferences or statements from famous people that are non-apologetic apologies?
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Oh, what I did was unfortunate.
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I got caught up in a moment of weakness.
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I'm sorry if what I did offended anyone, aka what I did wasn't that bad, so lighten up.
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David doesn't do any of this soft peddling nonsense.
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He describes his affair in three different ways.
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As transgression, as iniquity, and as sin.
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And these three words cross over with one another but communicate different aspects of the same concept.
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Transgression is purposeful rebellion.
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Iniquity is perversion, a twisting of God's ways and intentions, sin is falling short and missing the mark of God's holy standard.
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David is brutally honest here because he knows that he has abused his role as king to satisfy his own evil desires.
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David knows that he deserves nothing good from God.
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But David also knows that he serves a God who is willing to forgive anyone of anything if that person comes to him in repentance and faith.
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David knows that he shouldn't run away from the one who is ready to embrace him.
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If you have not yet turned from your sin and trusted in Christ, what are you waiting for?
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I have to be honest with you.
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You are not a good person.
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I am not a good person.
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You may not have ordered a hit on someone else like David, but you are just as guilty as him of transgression, iniquity, and sin.
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You have rebelled against God's rightful rule and authority.
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You have perverted how life should be lived.
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You have fallen way short of God's perfect and holy standard.
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You are far more wicked than you could possibly understand, but God is far more gracious than you could ever imagine.
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God wants to show you mercy.
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He doesn't want to give you what you deserve, which is eternal punishment in hell.
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God wants to give you what you don't deserve, which is grace, eternal joy in heaven.
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God wants to show you his steadfast love and his abundant mercy.
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He wants to blot out your transgressions and erase all record of your evil deeds.
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He wants to wash you thoroughly of your iniquity and cleanse you of all your sin.
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But God will only do those things if you ask him to.
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If you humble yourself before him like David and make no excuses for your evil desires and decisions.
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your heart problem may be that your heart is spiritually dead and needs to be brought to new life in Christ.
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If that's the case, confess your sin for the very first time and plead for Christ's forgiveness and he will give it to you.
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He will fix your heart problem.
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He will give you the solution which is faith in Jesus Christ and what he achieved by dying on the cross and rising again.
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Please don't let your pride keep you from the abundant mercy and steadfast love of God.
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Why should I confess from my heart?
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Reason number two, because my sin insults God.
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Because my sin insults God.
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David goes even deeper in verses three through six to reveal why his sin and your sin is such a big deal.
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Let's read that together.
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For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.
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Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgments.
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Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
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Behold, you delight in truth and the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
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David has a constant reminder of his affair and murder right in front of him all the time in the form of Bathsheba.
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I think that's one of the reasons why he says my sin is ever before me.
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Every single time he sees Bathsheba, he remembers that he took her when she didn't belong to him.
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And he ended the life of her first husband, Uriah, He was a man of great integrity.
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Yes, he wronged this woman.
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Yes, he wronged her husband.
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But they're not the ones that David is most concerned about wronging.
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Listen again to verse four.
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"Against you, you only have I sinned "and done what is evil in your sight." Who is David most concerned about wronging?
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The Lord.
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No one matters more than God, So offending him matters more than offending anyone else.
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Every sinful thought, every sinful word, action, inaction, reaction is an insult to God.
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It is a slap in his face.
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And this inescapable reality is highlighted when the Lord asks a direct question to David through the prophet Nathan in 2 Samuel 12, 9.
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Why have you despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his sight?
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In the following verse, God says that David didn't just despise his word, he despised him.
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When you take the word lightly, you take God lightly.
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When you disobey God's word, you disobey the one who spoke it into existence.
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(congregation laughing)
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Christians in the room and watching online, I want you to understand what you communicate to God when you choose to do something that you know you shouldn't or you fail to do something that you know you should.
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You are telling God, I love this sin more than I love you.
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When you click that link and watch that pornographic video, you are telling God, I'd rather look at this than behold you in your word.
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When you gossip and slander, you are telling God, I care more about what other people think about me than what you think about me.
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When you lie and cover your tracks, you are telling God, I care way more about my comfort than honoring you.
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When you intentionally disrespect your husband or selflessly dishonor your wife, You are telling God, I'd rather do things my way than your way in this marriage.
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In those moments, you dismiss God and act like he is worth nothing to you.
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How insulting is that?
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If that view of your sin doesn't make you wanna confess, I don't know what else to tell you.
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When I am rude and disrespectful to my wife, we are still married.
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My bad behavior doesn't divorce or separate me from her in that moment, but it does affect how close I feel to her.
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And I can't enjoy that closeness, that fellowship again, until I confess to her how I have wronged her.
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If you are a true believer in Jesus Christ, you confess to draw near to the Lord in fellowship, to enjoy a closeness with him that you cannot enjoy when you were holding on to sin and refusing to let it go.
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You confess because you're already forgiven.
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You confess because you love God and are loved by God.
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So often we feel like God forsakes us.
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But he's not the one who forsakes you.
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You are the one who forsakes him.
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The hymn, Come Thou Fount, nails this on the head.
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Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.
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Prone to leave the God I love.
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Does that describe anyone else besides me this morning?
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Is your heart problem that you feel distant from the Lord because you've been wandering off the path of his word?
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If that's you, admit that you've strayed because he already knows that you have.
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Confess that you need his help because God is well aware that you already need his help.
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Draw near to God and scripture promises that he will draw near to you.
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Why should I confess from my heart?
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Third reason, because my heart needs renovation.
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Because my heart needs renovation.
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In verses seven through 12, David continues on with more pleas for God to wash him of what he has done, and then he pops the hood, so to speak, and asks God to work on the engine of his heart.
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Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.
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Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
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Let me hear joy and gladness.
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Let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
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Hide your face from my sins, and blot out my iniquities.
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"Create in me a clean heart, O God, "and renew a right spirit within me.
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"Restore to me the joy of your salvation "and uphold me with a willing spirit." David asked God to create in him a clean heart.
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And that Hebrew word for create is the same word used in Genesis 1-1, when God made everything.
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In the beginning, God created things that were not there to begin with.
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He did something brand new.
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And David is asking him, God, do something brand new in me.
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Create in me something that doesn't exist.
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A heart that desires you.
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A heart that would rather choose you than sin.
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And David doesn't want this change to be a passing fad or a flash in the pan.
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He wants it to last.
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That's why he says, "Renew a right spirit within me.
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"Uphold me with a willing spirit." In other words, God, don't let me be lazy.
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Don't let me go back to business as usual.
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Let this change last for the rest of my days.
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Help me to step into who you've created me to be instead of sliding back into who I used to be.
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David understands that his life is a marathon, not a sprint.
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He needs to focus on the long term, not just the short term.
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And David says something in verse 11 that may have surprised you.
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"Cast me not away from your presence "and take not your Holy Spirit from me." Maybe that verse unlocked a new fear within you and you're starting to wonder, wait, can that actually happen?
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Can God take his spirit away from his people?
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You just said that God doesn't forsake his people.
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Aren't you contradicting yourself?
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Well, I don't have the time to fully explain the theology of this verse, so let me try to do my best in 90 seconds.
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You can even time me if you really want to.
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In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did not live within God's people as he does today.
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Instead, he would rush upon people and anoint them for specific tasks and roles.
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He would empower the prophets, the kings, judges, and others to say and do what God told them to say and do.
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And one such man was King Saul, the first king of Israel.
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He certainly looked the part.
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He was tall, dark, and handsome, but the problem was his heart.
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He had a heart problem that was never resolved.
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He sinned, he disobeyed, but he didn't truly confess and repent as David would.
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So God took away his Holy Spirit from Saul, which also meant that he took away the throne from Saul as well.
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And that's what David is thinking about in this verse.
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God, don't let me be another Saul.
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Don't take the throne away from me.
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Don't take your Holy Spirit and his help away from me.
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But if you are a follower of Christ, this side of the cross and the empty tomb, You don't need to share this fear of David's because you are sealed and indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
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He has made you into a new creation and given you a changed heart.
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The Holy Spirit can never be taken away from you just as your salvation can never be taken away from you.
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How amazing it is to enjoy the blessings that David longed for.
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a brand new heart and the constant presence, the constant indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
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But you and I often take these blessings for granted, don't we?
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We often take advantage of these blessings and act as if we don't need to do anything in our personal journey of holiness.
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Like David, ask God to uphold you with a willing spirit to maintain this heart that has been given to you.
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Who likes new stuff?
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A new car with a new car smell, new shoes that don't stink like a gym locker room, a new phone that can do stuff that your old one could not, a new car, how about a new house that doesn't have the issues that your last one did?
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And I think one of the reasons we like new stuff is that we think we can enjoy a break from maintenance and upkeep.
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Is that true?
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That's a really false hope that really goes away very quickly.
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A new car can be trashed in a few days if you're not diligent in cleaning it out.
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A new phone can be broken and shattered if you don't have a protective case and screen shield.
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New shoes will look very old and gross if you don't spray them out every once in a while and clean the dust and the grime that accumulates.
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I want you to imagine that a wealthy friend has a brand new house built for you, free of charge.
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This house is state of the art.
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Everything inside and outside the house looks fantastic.
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How fantastic would that house look if you never cut the grass?
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If you never do any upkeep of any kind, if you never keep up with ongoing renovations as the years pass by, that new house will not look new for very long.
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The same goes to the new heart that God has gifted to you.
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It needs ongoing maintenance and renovation.
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This isn't a task you can do once a year really quickly.
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This is a 24/7 project.
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project.
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And we'll talk about this heart maintenance in even greater detail in two weeks.
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But for the time being, I want you to understand that this heart maintenance includes personal time with the Lord in prayer and in his word.
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Participation in the life of the church, not just attendance, participation in the life of the church.
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And yes, ongoing confession and repenting of sin.
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It's hard to maintain a car and keep it running.
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It's hard to maintain a house and keep it looking presentable.
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It's way harder to maintain your heart and keep it dialed in to the Lord.
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What's the motivation for this difficult project?
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What keeps you on task, on schedule, on mission?
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Well, David gives us the answer in verse 12.
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"Restore to me the joy of your salvation." You will not continually maintain your heart if you are not continually blown away that you are saved in the first place.
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You will not constantly confess to your father if you are not thrilled that you belong to him and you are a part of his family.
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The moment you take your salvation for granted is the moment you stop growing, is the moment you stop making progress.
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It's like all the gas is siphoned out of your tank.
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Are you running on empty in this current season of life?
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If so, ask the Lord to fill your tank.
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Ask him to restore to you the joy of your salvation.
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Ask that you would once again celebrate that your name is written in heaven and nothing and no one can scratch it out.
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Do you know what the best thing about me is?
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That I belong to Jesus.
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And if you're a Christian, the best thing about you is that you belong to Jesus.
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Do you truly believe that this morning?
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Is that a truth that's on the forefront of your mind and fills your heart?
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If not, ask God that it would.
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'Cause otherwise you're not gonna grow your heart problem will not be solved.
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Why should I confess from my heart final reason?
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Because my worship and witness is hindered by hidden sin.
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Because my worship and witness is hindered by hidden sin.
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Let's wrap up with verses 13 through 19.
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"Then I will teach transgressors your ways, "and sinners will return to you.
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"Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God.
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"Oh God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud "of your righteousness.
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"Oh Lord, open my lips and my mouth "will declare your praise.
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"For you will not delight in sacrifice, "or I would give it.
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"You will not be pleased with the burnt offering.
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"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, "a broken and contrite heart, oh God, "you will not despise.
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"Do good to Zion in your good pleasure.
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"Build up the walls of Jerusalem." "Then will you delight in right sacrifices "and burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
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"Then bulls will be offered on your altar." David's heart is broken and contrite.
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As we studied a few months ago in the Beatitudes, David is poor in spirit and one who mourns over his sin.
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David understands that his sin doesn't just affect him, It affects everyone in positions underneath of him.
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It affects everyone in Israel.
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As the nation goes, as the king goes, so goes the nation.
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In this section, David isn't me focused.
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He is others focused.
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He asks to be used for God's purposes.
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Listen again to verse 13.
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"That I will teach transgressors your ways, "and sinners will return to you." David wants to be a living testimony of God's grace and kindness.
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Verses 14 through 15, "Deliver me from blood guiltiness, "O God, O God of my salvation, "and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness, "O Lord, open my lips, "and my mouth will declare your praise." David wants to demonstrate what it truly looks like to wholly worship God.
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Verse 18, "Do good to Zion in your good pleasure, to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
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David doesn't want to hoard all the blessing for himself.
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He wants Jerusalem and all of Israel to experience the blessing of God as well.
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David isn't interested in keeping his sin a secret any longer.
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He's ready to go public with it.
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And one of the ways he does this is by writing this psalm that we are reading right now.
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Think about it.
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How many transgressors have been taught?
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How many sinners have returned to God because of this psalm?
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How many countless numbers of sins have been confessed because David gave us a clear example of how to do this in a godly way?
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But this wouldn't have happened if David kept his sin a secret and only confessed it to God.
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Confession increased David's worship and strengthened his witness.
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And the same can be true for you as well.
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Confession will increase your worship and strengthen your witness.
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But the problem is you often believe the exact opposite.
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You think to yourself, "I don't want to ruin my testimony, "so I'll just keep my struggles to myself.
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"I won't tell anyone about my failures except God." That is a horrible plan.
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That plan is pride disguised as humility.
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That plan is self-interest disguised as an outward focus.
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Please listen to me.
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There is only one sinless person in all of existence, and this person is without a doubt not you or me.
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No one will benefit from a false image of your fake perfection.
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People will only benefit from a true image of your genuine confession.
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How many unbelievers could you point to the forgiveness of Christ by sharing how you have experienced his forgiveness?
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How many fellow believers can you remind them of that it is a good and godly thing to be transparent in the body of Christ?
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You can model that, because so often we think this isn't a safe place, but this should be the safest place to confess our sins and be honest with one another.
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For the rest of my life, I'll never forget one particular night at Geneva College during my freshman year, when my guy friends and I were completely honest with one another about what we struggled with.
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And to a man, we all admitted that we, at one point, had struggled with pornography use.
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I'll never forget the looks on people's faces.
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Everyone was shocked.
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We were all amazed because each guy thought he was the only one.
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Because that's how Satan wanted us to feel.
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Alone, isolated, self-condemning.
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No one wants you to confess your sin less than Satan.
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He doesn't want you to confess to God.
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He doesn't want you to confess to others because then you will receive love, encouragement, and prayer that will help you to make those needed changes.
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Listen to James 5, 16.
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Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.
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It is so healing to shine a light on what you've kept in the dark.
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It is so freeing to unearth what you've kept covered up.
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It is such a blessing to share what you have done to a person who is ready to build you up with the truths of the gospel.
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You don't need to hide your sins any longer because God himself has already hidden his face from your sin.
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As we close, let me ask you, what sins are you so desperate to keep hidden?
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What are you holding on to and refusing to confess to God and to those who are willing to help you?
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Maybe it's a sexual sin of some kind.
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Maybe it's a substance abuse problem.
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Maybe it's a anger issue or a pattern of lying.
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Maybe you've destroyed someone's reputation and they don't even know it.
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Maybe it's an all-consuming worry that no one knows the full extent of besides you and God.
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Whatever it is, you can and should confess it to the Lord and your loved ones today.
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Not next week when you've had more time to think about it because you're just gonna talk yourself out of it in the meantime.
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Not when it's more easy and convenient.
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No, it's never gonna be easy and convenient to confess your sin.
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Do it today.
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But I know what some of you are thinking.
38:30-38:31
Taylor, you just don't get it.
38:32-38:35
If I share this secret, my life will be ruined.
38:36-38:38
I'm gonna hurt so many people.
38:40-38:47
Well, over the past 10 years in ministry, I've had people confess some doozies to me, and then to other people who need to know.
38:48-38:49
And guess what?
38:49-38:52
It was hard, it was painful, but they survived.
38:53-38:57
And most of those people not only survived, they are thriving right now.
38:57-39:00
They are closer to God than ever before.
39:01-39:07
If you don't plan to confess to God, that tells me that you may not truly understand his saving grace.
39:08-39:14
If you don't plan to confess to others, that tells me that you don't actually plan to change.
39:17-39:22
You should confess from your heart because God is ready to pour out his love and mercy upon you.
39:23-39:28
You should confess from your heart because you shouldn't want to indulge in what insults God.
39:29-39:33
You should confess from your heart because you are in desperate need of renovation.
39:35-39:43
You should confess from your heart because hidden sin will shipwreck your worship of God and your witness to everyone.
39:46-39:51
There is no better place to come and confess our sin than the table of the Lord's Supper.
39:53-40:03
This God-given meal reminds you of God's given solution to your heart problem, the sacrifice of his one and only son.
40:04-40:09
Jesus Christ came down from heaven so that you could join him there someday.
40:10-40:19
His heart was set upon the cross so that your heart could be transformed and set to worship him forever and ever.
40:20-40:28
As you come to the Lord in communion, withhold nothing from him because he withholds nothing from you.
40:29-40:32
Our servers can now make their way forward as well as the worship team.
40:33-40:40
You don't need to belong to this church to take part in the Lord's Supper, but you do need to belong to Jesus Christ.
40:42-40:46
If you have not yet confessed your sins and asked Jesus to save you, please remain seated.
40:48-40:49
But please don't just tune out.
40:50-40:59
Please consider how your sin has offended God, how it has hurt others, and how it has damaged your own soul.
41:00-41:07
But also find hope in the fact that you can lay those sinful burdens down at the foot of the cross and receive forgiveness today.

Small Group Discussion
Read Psalm 51

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Why is sin such a big deal in the life of the Christian and why must it be confessed? What happens if you don’t confess sin but keep it hidden?
What often keeps you from confessing your sin to God? What often keeps you from confessing your sin to other believers?

Breakout
Separate by gender and confess your sin to one another. Encourage and pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

August 4, 2024

Gratitude

Jeff Miller

August 4, 2024

Introduction:

  
    Three Reasons We Are Giving Thanks Today (Psalm 138): 
Adoration : We give thanks for what God is Doing . (Ps 138:2-3)
    
Anticipation : We give thanks for what God is Going to Do . (Ps 138:4-6)
       
Assurance : We give thanks that God Always finishes His work . (Ps 138:7-8)

Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Speaker 1:
00:00-00:01
Good morning, Harvest Bible Chapel.
Speaker 1:
00:02-00:02
Good morning.
Speaker 1:
00:04-00:07
Welcome to gratitude service.
00:11-00:12
[Applause]
Speaker 1:
00:19-00:22
I mean, can you believe this?
Speaker 1:
00:23-00:24
[Cheers]
Speaker 1:
00:26-00:32
I can barely wrap my brain around this at the way that the Lord has provided for this church.
Speaker 1:
00:32-00:39
So what else could we possibly say today other than, "Thank you, God."
00:39-00:47
[applause]
Speaker 1:
00:48-00:52
All right, who still brought their Bibles with them today? You got your Bibles?
Speaker 1:
00:54-01:01
If you do not, I'm gonna give you a moment to look it up on your phone, because I bet you brought your phone even if you didn't bring your Bible.
Speaker 1:
01:03-01:06
Open up to Psalm 138.
Speaker 1:
01:10-01:11
Psalm 138.
Speaker 1:
01:15-01:26
While you're turning there, many, many years ago, when Cade was just a little squirt.
Speaker 1:
01:26-01:34
He was going to the school that was actually meeting next door to where the church normally meets at Hope.
Speaker 1:
01:35-01:38
And they had a Halloween trick or treat.
Speaker 1:
01:38-01:40
They had like costume day, right?
Speaker 1:
01:41-01:45
Well, this school had such a cast of characters.
Speaker 1:
01:45-01:48
And we would hear about them all the time when Cade would come home.
Speaker 1:
01:49-01:50
And there was one little boy.
Speaker 1:
01:50-01:52
I'm going to call him Joey.
Speaker 1:
01:53-01:57
But he was obsessed with elevators.
Speaker 1:
01:58-01:59
Obsessed with them.
Speaker 1:
02:01-02:07
And on this costume day, this Halloween day, it was a kind of parent open house thing.
Speaker 1:
02:08-02:12
And Cade was standing next to Joey.
Speaker 1:
02:13-02:15
And they had their costumes on.
Speaker 1:
02:15-02:19
And little Joey was dressed up like a stormtrooper from Star Wars.
Speaker 1:
02:21-02:29
And Cade, when he was little especially, he-- are you familiar with the expression, learn how to whisper in a sawmill?
Speaker 1:
02:32-02:35
So Cade was introducing Aaron and I to his little friend.
Speaker 1:
02:36-02:39
And Cade goes, this is Joey.
Speaker 1:
02:39-02:45
And then he puts his hand over his mouth like he's whispering something to us, but it was on the wrong side.
Speaker 1:
02:45-02:53
He goes, he thinks he's a storm trooper, he thinks he's an elevator, but he's actually a storm trooper.
Speaker 1:
02:54-02:56
Don't tell him.
Speaker 1:
02:56-02:57
(congregation laughing)
Speaker 1:
03:01-03:03
And we're like, well, now the whole zip code knows.
Speaker 1:
03:04-03:08
But I mentioned little Joey because I think about him often.
Speaker 1:
03:08-03:11
He had a bit of a self-awareness issue.
Speaker 1:
03:14-03:21
And truthfully in church, I think a lot of times, even as Christians, sometimes we have a self-awareness problem.
Speaker 1:
03:24-03:27
Let me ask you this, are you a thankful person by nature?
Speaker 1:
03:33-03:44
Well, that's sort of a hard question to ask in church because everyone thinks of themselves as thankful.
Speaker 1:
03:45-03:51
I mean there wouldn't be anybody that we could pull aside here today now or later on when we're eating.
Speaker 1:
03:51-03:54
There's nobody we'd pull aside that would say, "You know what?
Speaker 1:
03:54-03:59
Deep down I'm not thankful for nothing." There's nobody like that, that would say that.
Speaker 1:
04:02-04:15
So maybe a better question is, "Do you give thanks?" Maybe that's a more objective way for us to examine if we're really thankful people.
Speaker 1:
04:16-04:23
Do you actively, consistently give thanks to God?
Speaker 1:
04:25-04:27
Well Psalm 138, look at verse 1.
Speaker 1:
04:28-04:35
It says, "I give thanks, excuse me, I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart.
Speaker 1:
04:38-04:46
Before the gods I sing your praise." The gods, what does that mean?
Speaker 1:
04:49-04:50
Before the gods?
Speaker 1:
04:51-04:53
I did a lot of studying this week.
Speaker 1:
04:56-04:56
What does that mean?
Speaker 1:
04:56-05:05
Well, some people say, "Well, the Hebrew word is Elohim, and that's a word that's used of the Lord." So some people are saying it's just poetic.
Speaker 1:
05:05-05:07
He's talking about God.
Speaker 1:
05:07-05:10
Some people say, "No, no, no, he's talking about idols.
Speaker 1:
05:10-05:38
You know, there's a lot of false gods out there, and in the face of all these false gods I'm giving you thanks, true living God." And some people say, "Well, you know, that word is sometimes used in the Old Testament to describe prominent people, like the important people of society." I'll be honest with you, that's not the phrase in that verse that really bothers me.
Speaker 1:
05:39-05:40
You know which one it is?
Speaker 1:
05:40-05:42
Do you know what phrase in that verse bothers me the most?
Speaker 1:
05:45-05:46
Whole heart.
Speaker 1:
05:51-05:53
Because I too often fail at that.
Speaker 1:
05:55-05:56
And so do you.
Speaker 1:
05:58-05:59
You know what the difference is?
Speaker 1:
05:59-06:01
The difference is like this.
Speaker 1:
06:01-06:08
You know, imagine you come to the picnic and somebody, if you have children, somebody gives your kid a lollipop.
Speaker 1:
06:09-06:12
As a parent, what do you say to your kid?
Speaker 1:
06:13-06:15
Say thank you, right?
Speaker 1:
06:15-06:17
Say, hey, hey, hey, hey!
Speaker 1:
06:19-06:22
I mean, that's how some parents say it.
Speaker 1:
06:22-06:23
Hey!
Speaker 1:
06:24-06:28
"Hey, say thank you." And then what does your kid do?
Speaker 1:
06:29-06:45
"Thank you." There's a difference between that versus somebody really doing something for you where you genuinely, "Hey, hey, "I just wanted to say thank you.
Speaker 1:
06:45-06:47
"That meant so much to me that you did that for me.
Speaker 1:
06:47-06:49
"Thank you." See the difference?
Speaker 1:
06:53-07:00
You see, we're no different than the little kids being forced to say thank you for the lollipop.
Speaker 1:
07:00-07:10
We're no different than that when we come to church and we just sort of mouth the words during the music time.
Speaker 1:
07:15-07:17
And all I'm saying, church is.
Speaker 1:
07:19-07:19
Not today.
Speaker 1:
07:21-07:32
All of this today is for us to come together, all of us, and to give thanks with a whole heart.
Speaker 1:
07:34-07:40
So in Psalm 138, we're going to look at three reasons we are giving thanks today.
Speaker 1:
07:41-07:52
Three reasons we are giving thanks today. Number one is adoration. We give thanks for what God is doing. Look at verse 2.
Speaker 1:
07:54-08:20
David writes, "I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness for you have exalted above all things your name and your word." God takes His Word very seriously.
Speaker 1:
08:22-08:29
And you know, this church was founded on the belief that the Word of God does the work of God.
Speaker 1:
08:31-08:41
And I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but the world more and more and more is denying God, and denying God's Word. Have you noticed?
Speaker 1:
08:46-08:49
But Harvest Bible Chapel, we have drawn a line.
Speaker 1:
08:51-08:53
We're saying, not here.
Speaker 1:
08:56-08:56
Not here.
Speaker 1:
08:57-08:58
We are building a different place here.
Speaker 1:
09:01-09:03
God, your word is going to be exalted here.
Speaker 1:
09:05-09:07
God, your word is going to be preached here.
Speaker 1:
09:07-09:18
And God, there are going to be a generation of children that come up in this church here, who are going to have a regard for your word love for the God who gave it.
Speaker 1:
09:27-09:36
I got to tell you, I've been choking back tears many, many, many times over the past couple of months and many times today.
Speaker 1:
09:39-09:41
Because this church started with nothing.
Speaker 1:
09:42-09:49
No people, no money, no anything.
Speaker 1:
09:50-10:11
I remember going to the bank and opening up a bank account and they're like, "What are we gonna put in it?" Like, "Nothing." Like, "Let me go see if I have change "in the cup holder in my car." And now, we're sitting on nearly 12 acres and on our way to fundraising for a new building of our own.
Speaker 1:
10:12-10:13
(applause)
Speaker 1:
10:16-10:22
Church, how can we not give thanks for what God is doing?
Speaker 1:
10:24-10:25
Look at verse three.
Speaker 1:
10:27-10:30
On the day I called, you answered me.
Speaker 1:
10:31-10:36
My strength of soul, you increased.
Speaker 1:
10:40-10:56
Look, I've got to say this, you know, I've heard so many people over the years that I've ministered to say something like this, "You know, I tried praying and nothing happened." Have you ever felt like that?
Speaker 1:
10:57-11:08
"I tried praying, nothing happened." What people mean when they say that is this, I tried praying and my circumstances didn't change.
Speaker 1:
11:11-11:15
And honestly, isn't that what we're usually asking for when we pray?
Speaker 1:
11:15-11:27
God, I need you to take this away or God, I need you to give me that or God, I need this to be fixed in my life or God, I need this healed for this person.
Speaker 1:
11:30-11:31
But do you know what verse 3 reminds us?
Speaker 1:
11:32-11:33
A very important truth.
Speaker 1:
11:35-11:36
Listen very closely.
Speaker 1:
11:38-11:49
Answered prayer doesn't always, and I should say, answered prayer doesn't usually mean that circumstances change.
Speaker 1:
11:51-11:53
Did you see what he said in verse 3?
Speaker 1:
11:55-11:58
David said, "God didn't take away the trial." What did he say?
Speaker 1:
11:59-12:56
strength of soul you increased. And my friends I found as I've prayed that God doesn't usually change my circumstances but he always changes me. And God is going to use the trials in your life to draw you closer to him in total dependence on him. I thought about that a lot that week this past week and I thought you know what truth be told isn't that better? That instead of God always changing circumstances God always strengthening you isn't that better? And I think and I would suggest to you I think that's way better. You know Why? Because trials are going to keep coming.
Speaker 1:
12:56-13:03
Have you noticed trials are always going to be coming in different degrees, in different ways.
Speaker 1:
13:03-13:04
Trials are always going to be coming.
Speaker 1:
13:06-13:07
God's not going to make your life easy.
Speaker 1:
13:09-13:10
Instead, what he's going to do.
Speaker 1:
13:12-13:13
As he's going to strengthen your soul.
Speaker 1:
13:16-13:26
At Harvest Bible Chapel, from the very beginning until today, we have witnessed God at work in the souls of people.
Speaker 1:
13:28-13:32
And again, Church, I would ask you, how can we not give thanks for what God is doing?
Speaker 1:
13:34-13:40
I've asked some of those people to give testimony for the way God has been at work in their lives in this church.
Speaker 1:
13:40-13:43
First I'm going to ask if Jay and Andy Naur would come up and share.
13:45-13:45
[applause]
Speaker 2:
13:55-13:59
Hi, my name is Jay Kauer, and you know what I'm excited about?
Speaker 2:
13:59-14:00
You know what I see here?
Speaker 2:
14:01-14:07
I see Matt Cole going 20 yards that way, cutting right behind that groundhog, and me hitting him with a pass.
Speaker 2:
14:07-14:09
This is a football field times 10.
Speaker 2:
14:10-14:11
This is fabulous.
Speaker 2:
14:13-14:22
So I just wanted to let you know that this church started on October 1st, the year of our Lord, 2011.
Speaker 1:
14:23-14:25
October 2nd, but close enough.
Speaker 2:
14:25-14:26
You were a day early.
Speaker 2:
14:26-14:27
We were a day early.
Speaker 2:
14:28-14:29
Andy and I were there.
Speaker 2:
14:30-14:31
And we've never left.
Speaker 2:
14:32-14:33
No clapping.
Speaker 2:
14:33-14:33
No, no, no.
Speaker 2:
14:34-14:36
So it's been 13, what's that?
Speaker 2:
14:37-14:38
Why are we still here?
Speaker 2:
14:38-14:40
Is that what, I'm glad you asked.
Speaker 2:
14:41-14:43
We are still here because of leadership.
Speaker 2:
14:43-14:44
It's very simple.
Speaker 2:
14:45-14:49
This leadership is, I've never seen leadership like this.
Speaker 2:
14:51-14:53
Absolutely uncompromising on the word.
Speaker 2:
14:55-14:57
That's rare these days, I don't know if you've noticed.
Speaker 2:
15:00-15:03
They're ready for anything that would come along.
Speaker 2:
15:03-15:04
Persecution's coming.
Speaker 2:
15:05-15:20
I don't know if you know this, but for the first time in the history of the world, there's been deception that has been put on the world, and everyone's falling for it.
Speaker 2:
15:21-15:23
Not that leadership of this church did not fall for it.
Speaker 2:
15:25-15:32
In a lot of ways, they're just being very strong, and that's what's keeping me here.
Speaker 2:
15:32-15:33
A lot of good friends have left.
Speaker 2:
15:34-15:36
You're supposed to go to church where your friends are.
Speaker 2:
15:37-15:45
No, go to church where God is blessed, where God is strengthened, where God's kingdom is strengthened, and where the word is being uncompromisingly preached.
Speaker 2:
15:45-15:46
And that's what we get here.
Speaker 2:
15:47-15:48
Not, yeah, amen.
Speaker 2:
15:48-15:49
Not just from him.
Speaker 2:
15:50-15:51
I'm not just talking about Jeff.
Speaker 2:
15:51-15:54
There's other, like this guy here, Taylor.
Speaker 2:
15:55-15:55
Taylor's another one.
Speaker 2:
15:56-15:57
And there's like-- - Oh, he's another one.
Speaker 2:
15:58-16:04
(audience laughing) There's like 12 others that preach uncompromisingly.
Speaker 2:
16:05-16:06
I can't see you over here.
Speaker 2:
16:07-16:08
There, that's better.
Speaker 2:
16:08-16:08
Okay.
Speaker 2:
16:10-16:21
So, see, as a byproduct of this leadership, what we are creating here at Harvest Bible Chapel is a culture.
Speaker 2:
16:22-16:51
And this culture is like causing you, You may not even know it, but it's causing us to kind of react in a second nature kind of way, biblically. And I see it all the time. I'm seeing it more and more. And here's an example of how that culture is affecting our life right now, in our lives. And I'm so grateful for this.
Speaker 2:
16:52-16:54
I have to read this because I'm not going to get through it.
Speaker 2:
16:57-17:58
I'm just gonna read it so I can just Get through it a Young woman who attends here Made known that she desired to serve God by cooking for a family in need That family was mine It's my sister and mom actually and this woman who now I refer to as the casserole Queen has been providing meals for my mother and sister for months now, and my mother is touched by this generosity for certain, but she has commented to me how my sister's attitude toward the church has been changing as a result of this stranger's act of caring. When a stranger blesses a stranger, they don't stay strangers, and the Holy Spirit is working through this woman's personal ministry in my life and in my family's life.
Speaker 2:
17:59-18:01
And I'm ridiculously grateful for that.
Speaker 2:
18:01-18:02
To the Lord.
Speaker 1:
18:02-18:03
Amen, amen.
Speaker 2:
18:06-18:07
Yeah, clap for that.
Speaker 2:
18:08-18:10
I and my family are loved.
Speaker 2:
18:10-18:11
Something keeps stinging me.
Speaker 2:
18:13-18:14
Sorry, did I take too long?
18:15-18:16
(laughing)
18:17-18:18
I'm
Speaker 3:
18:18-18:18
I'm Andy.
Speaker 3:
18:18-18:21
I just wanted to add more blessings.
Speaker 3:
18:21-18:24
We've been blessed since the first day that we've been here.
Speaker 3:
18:25-18:34
Small groups for sure have been a blessing for the prayer, for the relationship that we have with a lot of people in here.
Speaker 3:
18:35-18:40
Getting to know people to support the physical, emotional, and prayer support.
Speaker 3:
18:41-18:43
The prayer team, thank you all so much.
Speaker 3:
18:43-18:50
It is such a blessing to get an email in the middle of the week that, hey, I just prayed for a need that you had.
Speaker 3:
18:50-18:51
That is amazing.
Speaker 3:
18:52-18:58
And the young families, as Jay was just alluding to, There is one person in particular that has helped our family.
Speaker 3:
18:58-19:01
We've been helped by many others though as well.
Speaker 3:
19:01-19:15
And when I see you young families, it is so encouraging because you're not just ready and able to help, you are enthusiastically diving in and serving the Lord by serving His church.
Speaker 3:
19:15-19:18
This is a wonderful church family that we have been blessed by.
Speaker 3:
19:18-19:19
Thank you all.
Speaker 3:
19:19-19:19
>> Amen.
19:20-19:21
Thank
Speaker 1:
19:21-19:21
you, guys.
Speaker 1:
19:21-19:22
Thank you.
Speaker 1:
19:24-19:25
[ Applause ]
Speaker 1:
19:25-19:27
Miss Debbie, where's Miss Debbie?
Speaker 1:
19:27-19:27
I know you're here somewhere.
Speaker 1:
19:28-19:29
You can stand up.
19:33-19:33
I
Speaker 2:
19:33-19:35
think he was joking about your height.
Speaker 1:
19:35-19:36
Yeah, that was a short joke.
Speaker 1:
19:42-19:44
Remember, remember, remember, we're thankful.
Speaker 1:
19:44-19:45
We're thankful.
Speaker 4:
19:45-19:47
This will be my last day at the church.
Speaker 4:
19:47-19:51
Hi, I'm Debbie Simons, and I live in Natrona Heights.
Speaker 4:
19:52-19:54
So it's quite a hike for me to come here.
Speaker 4:
19:54-19:58
However, this is my church, my family.
Speaker 4:
19:59-20:01
The church is not a building for me.
Speaker 4:
20:01-20:02
It's a group of people.
Speaker 4:
20:04-20:21
I started coming here with my husband in 2012, and sadly he passed away that very year, and God dropped Jeff out of the sky at my house that year, and he has taken care of me and my family ever since.
Speaker 4:
20:21-20:22
I have three children.
Speaker 4:
20:24-20:28
None of them come here but my granddaughter Charlotte, I think most of you know.
Speaker 4:
20:30-20:34
Over the years I've been blessed with a vehicle, a furnace.
Speaker 4:
20:35-20:42
I have been, I mean you saw me raw as a widow and just have walked me through that time.
Speaker 4:
20:42-20:56
And recently my daughter's house caught on fire at Christmas and my small group jumped into action and just refurbished her with everything she needed.
Speaker 4:
20:56-21:01
She is a non-believer and she was truly blessed by that.
Speaker 4:
21:02-21:11
And also recently a small group, not my own, came to my house and worked tirelessly.
Speaker 4:
21:12-21:18
They were like a well-oiled machine and they were so joyful and the kids that came, so joyful.
Speaker 4:
21:19-21:27
This is a church that gives and loves without measure and beyond anything you could ever dream or imagine.
Speaker 4:
21:28-21:36
So make yourself known and know some of these people because they don't just provide physical things.
Speaker 4:
21:36-21:42
They take care of your heart, point you back to the Lord, and they're all about Him.
Speaker 4:
21:43-21:44
So thank you, Harvest.
21:46-21:47
This will be my last day here.
Speaker 1:
21:49-21:51
I love you. I love you, God. Thank you, God.
Speaker 1:
21:51-21:53
Thank you so much. This better not be your last day.
Speaker 1:
21:56-21:57
This better not be your last day.
Speaker 1:
22:00-22:01
Bow with me in prayer, please.
Speaker 1:
22:02-22:04
Father in heaven, we just want to pause right now.
Speaker 1:
22:06-22:10
As your word teaches us, Father, we give thanks.
Speaker 1:
22:10-22:12
We give thanks, God, for your love and faithfulness.
Speaker 1:
22:14-22:20
And as we heard from Debbie, as we heard from the Nauers, God, you have demonstrated your love through the people in this church.
Speaker 1:
22:20-22:22
God, you've demonstrated your faithfulness.
Speaker 1:
22:22-22:24
And God, we thank you for that.
Speaker 1:
22:25-22:27
You have demonstrated your faithfulness to your word.
Speaker 1:
22:27-22:28
Hold it above all things.
Speaker 1:
22:29-22:32
You have demonstrated your faithfulness, God, and we thank you for that.
Speaker 1:
22:32-22:36
We have nothing to offer anyone in and of ourselves.
Speaker 1:
22:38-22:44
But it is your word that changes people, and it is your word that strengthens the souls of people.
Speaker 1:
22:44-22:46
And for that, God, we thank you.
Speaker 1:
22:47-22:49
God, we ask that you would continue.
Speaker 1:
22:53-23:00
To demonstrate your goodness and faithfulness, and we will continue to give you thanks, we pray these things
Speaker 5:
23:00-23:00
in Jesus name.
Speaker 1:
23:01-23:01
Amen.
23:07-23:07
The
Speaker 5:
23:07-23:10
three reasons we are giving thanks today, second on the list, anticipation.
Speaker 5:
23:11-23:13
We give thanks for what God is going to do.
Speaker 5:
23:14-23:17
We often have such low expectations of God, don't we?
Speaker 5:
23:17-23:22
Our anticipation of what He's gonna do in the future can be very weak.
Speaker 5:
23:22-23:27
We set the bar so low for Him so we can avoid frustration and disappointment.
Speaker 5:
23:29-23:32
'Cause if you don't get your hopes up, you can't be let down, right?
Speaker 5:
23:33-23:44
Well, David does not choose to think that way in verse four because he swings for the fences for his expectations of what God will do and what God will accomplish in the future.
Speaker 5:
23:45-23:46
Let's read the beginning of verse four.
Speaker 5:
23:47-23:50
All the kings of the earth shall give thanks, O Lord.
Speaker 5:
23:51-23:57
At this time in history, David was probably the only king on planet Earth who worshiped and served the one true God.
Speaker 5:
23:58-24:03
Every other king bowed down to handmade idols that could do nothing for no one.
Speaker 5:
24:04-24:10
But David doesn't just focus on the here and now, he focuses on the there and then.
Speaker 5:
24:10-24:25
He calmly looks ahead and he is a hundred percent sure that Gentile rulers will abandon their foolish idolatry and join him in a worshipping and thanking the Lord Why will this happen?
Speaker 5:
24:26-24:40
Well David tells us why at the end of verse 4 and in verse 5 For they have heard the words of your mouth. They shall sing of the ways of the Lord for great is the glory of the Lord So again, why will this happen?
Speaker 5:
24:41-25:09
Because God is too great and glorious for it not to happen. Amen King David is saying God is too big. God is too awesome just to be worshipped by me. I know the other rulers will get in line behind me David had no evidence of this future except for God's character and track record which are more than enough Why are we so confident that the Lord is gonna use Harvest Bible Chapel in a great and mighty way in this area?
Speaker 5:
25:10-25:33
Because he is too great and glorious for it not to happen Amen Because he is worthy of the worship of every single person in that neighborhood next to us because he is worthy of the worship of Everyone on Klein Road because his name is worthy of being lifted high in New Swickley in Zillian Opal and Cranberry Wexford and beyond. He is worthy of being lifted high in Pittsburgh and throughout this world.
Speaker 5:
25:36-25:39
You know, this church isn't just about all of us in this field right now. Do you know that?
Speaker 5:
25:40-25:46
This church is about the Lord drawing more and more worshippers and disciples unto himself through us.
Speaker 5:
25:47-25:52
If we lose that expectation, if we lose that anticipation, we are so lost.
Speaker 5:
25:53-25:56
We are dead in the water and this move is pointless.
Speaker 5:
25:57-26:06
As we move forward as a congregation, we must constantly make sure that our expectations, anticipation are wholly focused on God.
Speaker 5:
26:08-26:10
David reminds us of this important reality in verse 6.
Speaker 5:
26:11-26:20
He says, "For though the Lord is high, He regards the lowly, but the haughty He knows from afar." Yes, God is high and lifted up.
Speaker 5:
26:20-26:24
Yes, God is gloriously holy and beyond us in every single way.
Speaker 5:
26:25-26:55
this king of the world who is high above all still sees those who recognize their rightful place before him. Humility does not go unnoticed in heaven. Other people may not notice it whenever you humble yourself, but who cares? God Almighty sees you, He knows you, He loves you, and He blesses you. But David gives us this warning in verse 6 as well. "The haughty, the proud, the arrogant, the boastful." God God knows from afar.
Speaker 5:
26:57-26:59
God keeps those who exalt themselves at an arm's length.
Speaker 5:
26:59-27:05
He keeps his distance because they have failed to remember who they actually are and who he truly is.
Speaker 5:
27:07-27:18
And I was racking my brain earlier this week to figure out how to illustrate this and how it works out in real life, and the Lord gifted me with an experience on the way home on Tuesday evening from work.
Speaker 5:
27:19-27:21
It was 5.15, rush hour traffic.
Speaker 5:
27:22-27:23
We're going pretty slow.
Speaker 5:
27:24-27:28
All of a sudden, this souped up scion zooms right past me and cuts me off.
Speaker 5:
27:29-27:32
But Mr. Scion wasn't content just to cut me off.
Speaker 5:
27:32-27:37
He started zooming ahead and cutting other people off with the most obnoxious and lousy noises.
Speaker 5:
27:37-27:38
(imitates scion)
Speaker 5:
27:40-27:41
Over and over again.
Speaker 5:
27:42-27:43
You know what's funny though?
Speaker 5:
27:44-27:51
No matter how fast he went, no matter how many people he cut off, he always somehow ended up right behind my car.
Speaker 5:
27:54-27:54
(laughs)
Speaker 5:
27:54-27:57
the speed limit, I stayed in the same exact lane.
Speaker 5:
27:57-28:01
And at one point I heard him scream, that's how loud he screamed, in the car next to me.
Speaker 5:
28:01-28:12
He screamed and slapped his steering wheel 'cause he was kept far away from where he wanted to be, no matter how hard he tried to go ahead in his own way and his own power.
Speaker 5:
28:14-28:16
Harvest, let's not be like Mr. Scion.
Speaker 5:
28:17-28:21
Let's never think that we got this and we can do it on our own because we cannot.
Speaker 5:
28:23-28:32
Let us follow God's plan at his pace, at his perfect timing, even though his way may seem slow, bumpy, and frustrating at times.
Speaker 5:
28:34-28:36
Because ultimately, this isn't our work.
Speaker 5:
28:37-28:38
It is God's work.
Speaker 5:
28:39-28:44
Let us humble ourselves and thank the Lord that he has invited us into his work.
Speaker 5:
28:45-28:49
Let us expect great things of God and passionately worship him right now.
Speaker 5:
28:50-29:18
Let us eagerly anticipate the future he is going to bring this church and praise him and thank him now because he is worthy. There may not be a building in this field right now but let's thank God that it's going to be someday soon. We're going to continue to thank the Lord through testimony so if Jamie and Dylan Kingham could come forward to share how Harvest Bible Chapel has impacted them. Give them a round of applause.
Speaker 6:
29:25-29:31
Hi, honestly, I'm feeling a little emotional and I didn't think I would be, but I'm Jamie Kingan.
Speaker 6:
29:31-29:32
This is my husband, Dylan.
Speaker 6:
29:32-29:33
That's our son, Bo, back there.
Speaker 6:
29:35-29:40
And we've been coming to Harvest for about a year, but we've known about it for about seven years.
Speaker 6:
29:40-29:42
My mom and dad started coming here.
Speaker 6:
29:42-29:48
And when we got married and we're like looking for a church, we grew up with very different church backgrounds.
Speaker 6:
29:48-29:54
We were like, we want to find somewhere different than my family, than, like, you know, like our own place, like whatever.
Speaker 6:
29:54-30:06
So we were looking and going to different churches, and we were just feeling very discouraged because we hadn't found a place that we felt like really comfortable or like we both were like this is where God wants us to be.
Speaker 6:
30:06-30:10
And we were just like praying that God would guide us and just like give us some wisdom.
Speaker 6:
30:11-30:45
And we came to a service with my mom and dad one week, and Pastor Jeff gave a sermon about how it's really important to be able to trust and respect and like be able to lean on the leadership of your church and we got in the car and left and I was like that is not where we're at like we need to reevaluate and we felt that immediately at harvest that we could really trust and respect what was coming out of the leadership and that it was a place that would help us grow as like a a new family and as new parents.
Speaker 6:
30:47-30:48
And that would walk alongside of us.
Speaker 6:
30:49-30:51
And now we look at, oh, sorry.
Speaker 6:
30:54-31:24
We look at going to church with our family as like such a blessing, 'cause it's like a really beautiful generational, like my grandparents are here, and Beau's grandparents are here, and so my son gets to grow up going to church with his family and his grandparents, his great grandparents and around a body of people who will encourage us and help us bring him up in a place that has a firm foundation in the world.
Speaker 6:
31:24-31:26
So, sorry I got so emotional.
Speaker 7:
31:31-31:32
Hello, I'm Dylan.
Speaker 7:
31:34-31:43
But yeah, kind of going off of what Jamie was saying, it's like Jamie was, I think, seven, eight months pregnant and we were still scrambling to find a church.
Speaker 7:
31:43-31:48
And I'm like, "Oh, this is gonna be tough." So we ended up going to Harvest.
Speaker 7:
31:48-31:54
And then like she said, from day one, it was immediate, the impact that Harvest had on us and our lives.
Speaker 7:
31:56-32:04
And we knew right away that Beau was gonna be raised in this church and he's gonna be a man of God because of, partially because of this church.
Speaker 7:
32:04-32:06
And we dedicated him to the church.
Speaker 7:
32:06-32:19
And now kind of fast forward to today and you can see the future almost out here today and just the church family that we have and that Bo has as well.
Speaker 7:
32:20-32:21
It's just truly amazing.
Speaker 7:
32:21-32:35
And what Jeff said earlier, like the world is hard and it can be a hard, dark place, but this church is different and you can see that today and in the future as well.
Speaker 7:
32:35-32:37
So thank you.
32:37-32:37
Thank you.
32:39-32:39
(applause)
32:40-32:40
Thank
Speaker 5:
32:40-32:41
you both for sharing.
Speaker 5:
32:41-32:43
Now I'm going to invite Becca Kendrew forward to share as well.
Speaker 5:
32:43-32:44
So give her a round of applause.
32:46-32:47
(applause)
32:49-32:52
Becca Kendrew>> I'm
Speaker 8:
32:52-32:53
Becca Kendrew.
Speaker 8:
32:53-32:56
Me and my family, we've been coming here for a little over a year now.
Speaker 8:
32:57-33:03
And something I've said to them since we started coming here is everyone just seems so loving here.
Speaker 8:
33:04-33:25
I just felt so comforted from the moment I walked in the door and I'm very passionate about worshiping and singing and so being able to join the worship team has been a really big blessing for me.
Speaker 8:
33:29-33:33
My family experienced a lot of hurt before coming here.
Speaker 8:
33:36-33:48
And seeing the way you guys treat each other and love one another when someone is going through something, it's like, that is like what I've been missing at past churches we've been to.
Speaker 8:
33:48-33:50
We experience a lot of church hurt.
Speaker 8:
33:52-33:54
I just wanna say thank you for that.
Speaker 8:
33:55-33:55
Ryan.
Speaker 8:
33:58-33:59
Thank you.
Speaker 8:
34:01-34:06
But yeah, I just, I really appreciate the way you guys say, like, how can I be praying for you?
Speaker 8:
34:06-34:07
How can I help you?
Speaker 8:
34:07-34:09
And you really show up and you do that for one another.
Speaker 8:
34:10-34:12
And I think that's something me and my family missed.
Speaker 8:
34:13-34:19
And I just love the way this preaching has come straight from the scripture, from the Bible.
Speaker 8:
34:19-34:24
And I'm just ready each Sunday to write everything down.
Speaker 8:
34:24-34:25
I put it in my Bible.
Speaker 8:
34:25-34:35
I have it all down and I'm ready to just listen and learn from it all and oh I'm losing my spot. I'm so worked up.
Speaker 8:
34:38-34:41
But yeah, just thank you for how much you've loved me and my family.
Speaker 8:
34:42-34:50
It's meant the world to us and a lot of healing has come from this church and I'm very very very grateful. I'm very grateful. Thank you.
34:58-34:58
Let's
Speaker 5:
34:58-35:00
continue to give thanks to God in prayer.
Speaker 5:
35:02-35:07
God, we listen to these testimonies, it's hard to get overwhelmed by all that you're doing.
Speaker 5:
35:07-35:13
Lord, we get so caught up in our schedules and our routines and our issues that we totally miss that you're at work.
Speaker 5:
35:15-35:21
Lord, we so often think to ourselves, I wish God was doing something, but you are doing something, no matter what season that we're in.
Speaker 5:
35:21-35:26
And we thank you that you're at work at Harvest Bible Chapel since 2011 until today and in the future, Lord.
Speaker 5:
35:27-35:32
We anticipate great things because you have done great things for us over the course of this church.
Speaker 5:
35:32-35:35
And we know you'll continue to do so moving forward.
Speaker 5:
35:35-35:39
Lord, may we never try to depend on ourselves or think that we can do it.
Speaker 5:
35:39-35:45
May you always put us in the position where we have to trust you every single step along the way.
Speaker 5:
35:46-35:50
Lord, we thank you for every single person that will be saved through this ministry.
Speaker 5:
35:51-35:55
We thank you for every single family that will be strengthened through this ministry.
Speaker 5:
35:55-35:58
We thank you for every single disciple that will be made.
Speaker 5:
35:59-36:04
And Lord, help us to remember that this is your work, and you have invited us into it with you.
Speaker 5:
36:05-36:07
Lord, we thank you, we praise you.
Speaker 5:
36:09-36:12
In the wonderful name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Speaker 1:
36:19-36:29
There's one more reason we're giving thanks today, not just adoration, we give thanks for what God is doing, anticipation, we give thanks for what God is going to do.
Speaker 1:
36:31-36:33
But number three is assurance.
Speaker 1:
36:34-36:38
We give thanks that God always finishes His work.
Speaker 1:
36:39-36:40
Look at verse seven.
Speaker 1:
36:42-36:49
Verse 7 says, "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life.
Speaker 1:
36:51-37:09
You stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me." Stop there. David reminds us trouble is going to come. And it almost always comes from people.
Speaker 1:
37:10-37:23
And that might seem like such a strange concept, especially on today, especially as we look at what the Lord has provided this church, especially as we're here celebrating how God is at work and trusting what He's going to do.
Speaker 1:
37:26-37:45
Trouble's going to come. It almost always comes from people. And there will be, Yes, even from within the church, naysayers and complainers and critics.
Speaker 1:
37:47-37:59
Like, well, how do you know that? Because when God is at work, there are always people who are not on board.
Speaker 1:
38:00-38:02
That's what David was talking about here.
Speaker 1:
38:03-38:05
Do you need another reference?
Speaker 1:
38:06-38:06
How about Moses?
Speaker 1:
38:09-38:11
How about the Apostle Paul?
Speaker 1:
38:13-38:13
How about?
Speaker 1:
38:16-38:29
About our Lord, how about Jesus Christ himself, who came to die for our sins, to be raised from the dead, to give us eternal life, The perfect, righteous Son of God.
Speaker 1:
38:30-38:32
God clearly at work.
Speaker 1:
38:35-38:38
And even in the face of God Himself, there were people that were not on board.
Speaker 1:
38:40-38:41
Like, man.
Speaker 1:
38:43-38:44
I guess you're right, Pastor Jeff.
Speaker 1:
38:44-38:46
What do we do about these people that are on board?
Speaker 1:
38:46-38:47
What do we do?
Speaker 1:
38:47-38:48
What do we do about that?
Speaker 1:
38:52-38:52
Nothing.
Speaker 1:
38:54-38:55
Did you see what he just said?
Speaker 1:
38:57-39:14
He says, "You stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies and your right hand delivers me." What David is saying is, "You know what, God, when there's people that aren't on board with what you're doing, I know that you're going to deal with them." And he will.
Speaker 1:
39:15-39:17
So why am I so concerned about them?
Speaker 1:
39:19-39:20
God's going to preserve us.
Speaker 1:
39:20-39:23
His right hand is going to deliver us.
Speaker 1:
39:23-39:26
And today, church, how can we not give thanks for His assurance?
Speaker 1:
39:29-39:32
And if you're like, "Well, how do we know?
Speaker 1:
39:33-39:37
How do we know that God is going to fulfill His purpose?
Speaker 1:
39:37-39:42
How do we know God will fulfill His purpose?" Well, look at verse 8.
Speaker 1:
39:43-40:15
"The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me." steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands." God has some work for us to do, obviously, but the question is, who's going to make sure the work gets done? Everybody point. Who is going to make sure that the work gets done. God will fulfill his purpose.
Speaker 1:
40:20-40:39
Quick poll you people doing projects at home. How many people by show of hands, I'll give you both choices and then you can vote. How many people when you do a project you like to do one project and get it all finished versus the people that start like 15 projects and they're all at various stages of completion.
Speaker 1:
40:39-40:45
All right, so how many people are like one at a time, please how many people like that I feel you?
Speaker 1:
40:47-40:51
Okay, how many people right now at their house have like 15 projects happening?
Speaker 1:
40:53-42:27
or more See I'm a one-at-a-time person Because - and this is why maybe it's just how I'm autistic or something but like When I see a bunch of half or quarter or third finished projects when I see those around the house It's just always a reminder to me Of a lack of commitment on my part like Jeff you started that but you didn't finish that And then I'm like really convicted like I was why was I so interested in doing that then and now I don't have as much interest now Well good news Because this verse tells us that God always finishes what he begins. Do you know God doesn't run out of steam? God doesn't run out of money. God doesn't run out of resources. God doesn't run out of interest. And the fact that we are sitting here today on this property and we're looking out here we can say how do we how do we know how do we know God's gonna put a building there? How do we know? Because God always finishes what And he didn't bring us here today and say, "All right kids, good luck. Let me know how it goes when you get that building up." He says at the end of verse 8, "Do not forsake the work of your hands." Do not forsake the work of your...
Speaker 1:
42:27-42:38
What is the work of God's hands? What is that? What is the work of God's hands? Do you know the Bible tells us, Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God's workmanship.
Speaker 1:
42:40-42:46
And Philippians 1.6 reminds us that when God starts something in you, He's going to finish it.
Speaker 1:
42:50-42:59
So yes, yes, yes, a building is going to be put here where God is going to be at work through you.
Speaker 1:
43:01-43:06
But first, God wants to do something in you.
Speaker 1:
43:08-43:09
The Lord's going to fulfill His purpose.
Speaker 1:
43:11-43:16
So how can we not give thanks for His assurance?
Speaker 1:
43:20-43:22
And straight A's in gratitude looks like this.
Speaker 1:
43:23-43:28
Adoration, thanking God for who He is.
Speaker 1:
43:29-43:37
Anticipation, thanking God for what He's going to do, and assurance, thanking God knowing that He's going to finish what He does.
Speaker 1:
43:41-43:41
And you know what I found?
Speaker 1:
43:42-43:55
The people that get that, the people that truly understand those three things about God are the people who are going to give thanks with their whole heart.
Speaker 1:
43:58-44:10
Thankful people are motivated by their gratitude to God to worship, to give, and to serve.

Small Group Discussion
Read Psalm 138

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Psalm 138:3 and Psalm 138:7 tell us that God doesn’t always change our circumstance when we pray, but He strengthens us. Tell of a specific time when you were strengthened by God, even though your circumstances didn’t change.
In Psalm 138:8, we have both a declaration of certainty God will finish His work (v8a) and a plea for God to finish His work (Psalm 138:8c). What does this say about the nature of faith?

Breakout
Pray prayers of specific things you are thankful for.

Taylor Brown

September 24, 2023

Praying on Purpose

Praying on Purpose - Praying for Justice

Taylor Brown

September 24, 2023

Praying on Purpose

Introduction:

How Should I Respond to Injustice? (Psalm 58)

I should recognize that Corruption is inevitable . (Ps 58:1-5)
I should pray that God Will Act . (Ps 58:6-9)
Matthew 5:44 - "But I say to you, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

Luke 23:34 - "Father, forgive them. For they do not know what they are doing."

Acts 7:60 - "Lord, do not hold this sin against them."
I should rejoice that God is the Righteous Judge . (Ps 58:10-11)
Ezekiel 33:11 - "As I live declares the LORD GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live."

Galatians 6:9 - "Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

01:07-01:09
All right, so you can turn your Bibles to Psalm 58.
01:10-01:11
Psalm 58.
01:12-01:17
You know, as an observer of the human condition, I love to hear about what annoys people.
01:18-01:25
Because we're all so different, and we all have different pet peeves that really just crawl under our skin and drive us insane.
01:26-01:29
What annoys me may not annoy you, and vice versa.
01:30-01:37
So before I share with you one of my biggest pet peeves, take 20 seconds to turn to the person next to you and share your biggest pet peeve.
01:37-01:38
All right, 20 seconds.
01:41-01:42
All right, all right, I gave you more than 20 seconds.
01:44-01:55
I could unfurl a long list of my pet peeves, but there's one that's really been bothering me lately, and that is junk mail, both virtual and physical.
01:55-01:58
Who else is annoyed by junk mail besides me?
01:58-02:05
I hate when I get home from work, I open up the mailbox and it's packed to the raft with useless nonsense, that's gonna end up in the garbage.
02:06-02:14
But the worst part is I can't just throw the whole bundle in the trash, because interspersed in that pile is things I can't ignore, things I have to look at.
02:15-02:24
So I have to go through this whole process of flipping through the stack to separate the junk from the necessities and the irrelevant from the relevant.
02:25-02:27
All right, we all hate that process.
02:28-02:32
And since misery loves company, We're actually gonna sort through my mail together.
02:32-02:33
All right?
02:33-02:37
And you're gonna tell me if it's junk or if it should be kept.
02:38-02:39
All right, does that sound good?
02:39-02:41
So if it's junk, yell out junk.
02:41-02:42
And if it's a keep, yell out keep.
02:43-02:43
All right?
02:45-02:47
First we have the Wells Fargo Active Cash Card.
02:48-02:49
What do we think?
02:49-02:50
All right, junk.
02:52-02:53
A Lowe's card.
02:53-02:56
I just borrow my dad's tools when I need them, so.
02:57-02:58
I'm gonna say that's junk.
02:59-03:03
A Disney Plus membership that's expired September 20th.
03:04-03:05
Alright, that's junk.
03:06-03:09
Preferred customer private VIP sale.
03:10-03:13
Doesn't even say what it is for, just a sale.
03:13-03:14
Junk?
03:14-03:14
Alright, junk.
03:15-03:18
Oh, a Citi credit card.
03:19-03:19
Alright, junk.
03:21-03:24
Okay, a personal note from my financial advisor.
03:26-03:26
That's probably a keep.
03:26-03:27
Yeah, that's probably a keep.
03:29-03:31
All right, Instacart, get groceries delivered.
03:33-03:34
Junk, all right.
03:34-03:35
Oh, this is nice.
03:35-03:38
The Home Magazine, the Christmas light edition.
03:40-03:40
All right, junk.
03:41-03:45
And last but not least, All Star five cigar combo cutter.
03:46-03:47
Only $16.
03:50-03:51
All right, this one's split.
03:52-03:54
If you want to take this later, I won't judge you.
03:54-03:56
I'll leave it right here, all right?
03:58-04:03
Now you may be thinking, okay Taylor, that was fun and all, but what's the point of all this?
04:04-04:11
Well, I was thinking this past week that so many Christians often mirror this same process in their Bible reading.
04:12-04:22
We flip through the Old Testament and we completely skip over certain sections because they seem insignificant and unimportant to us in 2023.
04:23-04:39
Many of us flip through the beginning of our Bibles and think, oh, I love Genesis, I love Creation account, I love the first chapters of the book of Exodus, but then you get to Moses going on and on about the priest's robes and the Ark of the Covenant, and I just kinda check out a little bit.
04:41-04:46
Speaking of checking out, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, that just, that's a rough go.
04:48-04:50
Doesn't really seem relevant to my life.
04:51-04:58
All that law stuff seems tedious and irrelevant, so we rush through it, we ignore it, we treat it like it's junk mail.
05:00-05:11
Jumping forward to the book of Psalms, we love the laments, the praise and wisdom Psalms, which Pastor Jeff, Mike Wolski, and Matt Cole expertly preached on over the past three weeks.
05:11-05:18
But then we hit an imprecatory Psalm like the one I'm about to preach on this morning, and we have no idea what to make of it.
05:20-05:23
Now you may be wondering, Taylor, what is an imprecatory psalm?
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These are the psalms that are focused on praying that God would punish the wicked, that God would punish those who oppose him, those who seek to persecute his people.
05:35-05:43
Fed up men pray that the hammer of misfortune and justice would fall upon the wicked, would fall upon the unjust.
05:45-05:52
As believers this side of the cross, we look at a psalm like this and we think, This can't possibly apply to my life.
05:53-05:57
This can't possibly be something I should add to my prayer life, right?
05:59-06:08
So we kind of shrug our shoulders and treat the imprecatory Psalms like junk mail that we brush off the tables of our mind and throw in the spiritual trash.
06:10-06:10
But guess what?
06:11-06:13
God's word contains no junk mail.
06:14-06:16
It is all valuable and important.
06:16-06:19
We can't skip or ignore any of it.
06:20-06:27
We are a church that preaches the entire word of God without apology, even the difficult and challenging parts.
06:28-06:39
So in light of this conviction, we're gonna focus our attention upon studying Psalm 58 and contemplating how the Lord wants us to respond to injustice as his people.
06:40-06:46
Along the way, we'll discover that we should love what God loves, but also hate what God hates.
06:47-06:56
We must find a biblical balance between possessing a righteous anger and showing the unconditional grace of Jesus Christ.
06:57-07:02
And this biblical balance should affect how we live and how we pray.
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So before we dive into Psalm 58, let's go to the Lord and ask for his help because we need it.
07:10-07:14
Father, as we come to your word, I pray that we would humble ourselves.
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I pray that we would submit to you in whatever you say, or that we would remember that you are God and we are not.
07:24-07:29
Lord, our opinions do not matter in the face of your authoritative truth.
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So I pray for every single person in this room.
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I pray that you would minister to them in the way that you ministered to.
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Your Holy Spirit would challenge, He would convict, He would comfort as well.
07:43-07:44
In Jesus' name, amen.
07:45-07:50
So the question we're gonna answer this morning is, how should I respond to injustice?
07:51-07:54
How should I respond to injustice?
07:54-07:58
And firstly, I should recognize that corruption is inevitable.
07:59-08:02
I should recognize that corruption is inevitable.
08:04-08:08
So David doesn't waste any time with niceties and fluffy language.
08:09-08:13
Instead, he jumps right in to what is bothering him in verses one through two.
08:14-08:15
Look at what he says.
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Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
08:19-08:21
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
08:22-08:24
No, in your hearts you devise wrongs.
08:24-08:27
Your hands deal out violence on the earth.
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To be clear, David isn't speaking to actual gods in this passage because there is only one God.
08:35-08:40
In the Hebrew, this word for gods can also be translated as mighty lords or mighty rulers.
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So he is speaking to those in a position of authority who are using their platform for evil instead of good.
08:50-08:54
So he asked two questions with a very obvious answer.
08:55-09:00
As I ask each of David's questions again, please loudly shout out the obvious answer.
09:01-09:03
Do you indeed decree what is right, you rulers?
09:05-09:06
All right, that was really bad.
09:06-09:07
I'm gonna do that again.
09:08-09:10
Do you indeed decree what is right, you rulers?
09:13-09:14
The answer is no, everybody.
09:16-09:17
I'm gonna give you a chance for the second one.
09:18-09:21
Do you judge the children of men uprightly, you mighty lords?
09:22-09:23
All right, that was okay.
09:24-09:31
He then says they continually invent new ways to wrong others and they deal out violence and oppression on the earth.
09:33-09:41
David is pointing out that corruption is an inevitable fact of life, especially at the top of the leadership ladder.
09:41-09:54
There are many men and women in positions of authority who abuse their God-given role to glorify themselves, to lie in their own pockets, and to advance destructive agendas.
09:55-10:02
I mean, in our country right now, we have politicians and lobbyists who continually push for the murder of unborn children.
10:04-10:08
and the gender transitioning of children and teenagers.
10:09-10:26
And many in the educational system are lining behind this horrific scheme and indoctrinating children with lies about their identity and sexuality that will leave permanent scars on their body, that will leave spiritual and emotional scars.
10:28-10:29
What about the church world?
10:31-10:47
Over the past 10 years, we've been bombarded with story after story and case after case of pastors, church leaders and elders mistreating staff, embezzling funds, participating in and covering up sexual abuse.
10:49-10:54
Those entrusted with the care of precious souls are instead dashing them into a million pieces.
10:56-11:06
We so often highlight the injustices happening here in the US, but there are so many leaders across the world right now committing shocking atrocities against their citizens.
11:08-11:14
The North Korean government continually shuts down house churches and sentences Christians to labor camps.
11:15-11:22
Believers who still remain in Afghanistan must keep a low profile due to the return of the Taliban to power in 2021.
11:25-11:30
Did you know that over 5,600 Christians were murdered for their faith last year alone.
11:31-11:43
Over 5,600 of our brothers and sisters from Christ were slaughtered because of their love for Jesus Christ, because of their dedication to meeting together and spreading the good news.
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And 90% of these deaths occurred in Nigeria, where Islamic militants are committing brutal raids against Christian communities.
11:53-11:59
And the Nigerian government's trying to sweep this under the rug and say that it has nothing to do religious persecution.
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Why is this happening?
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Why is there so much injustice and wickedness on a global scale?
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Well, David goes on to clearly explain why corruption is inevitable and why wicked leaders do wicked things.
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Let's read verses three through five.
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"The wicked are estranged from the womb.
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"They go astray from birth, speaking lies.
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"They have venom like the venom of serpents, but the deaf adder that stops its ear so that it does not hear the voice of charmers rather the cunning enchanter.
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So why is this happening?
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Simple answer, because of sin.
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I know it's a Sunday school answer, but it's what the text says.
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We live in a fallen world that is filled with fallen people and fallen leaders.
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Listen again to what David says in verse three.
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The wicked are estranged from the womb.
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and they go astray from birth speaking lies.
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Contrary to popular belief, we do not come into this world as perfect babies with halos over our heads.
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We then become sinful as soon as we do something wrong.
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No, we are not sinners because we sin.
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We sin because we are sinners.
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We inherited a sin nature from the first man, Adam, and that sin nature leads us away from God and not towards him.
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apart from the miraculous intervention of God, that inherent wickedness in our heart will spread like a weed and choke out the life of everything around it.
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If you put a heart that is hard into the Lord and fill with the poison of pride and a position of power, there is going to be problems.
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There is going to be misconduct.
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In verses four through five, David compares this kind of immoral leader to a venomous serpent that willfully doesn't pay attention to its owner and snake charmer.
13:59-14:01
We all know what a snake charmer is, right?
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This is a common form of entertainment back in David's day in the Middle East.
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Snake charmers would have a snake in a basket and a crowd would form around, they would play their flute and hopefully the snake would come under the charm of the flute and sway back and forth kind of like it was dancing.
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But if the snake didn't pay attention, if it willfully didn't listen to the flute, there could be serious consequences.
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The snake could bite the charmer or those who are watching around the basket.
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In a much greater way, the wicked rulers of this world refuse to listen to the call of godliness and repentance.
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They refuse to submit to the Lord.
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They refuse to submit to their heavenly owner.
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Instead of dancing to his glorious and heavenly tune, they go their own way to bite and infect others.
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It's just common sense that a wild and venomous serpent will cause a lot of damage.
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And it's only common sense that an unchecked leader will leave a lot of damage in his or her wake.
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You know, during my tenure as a youth pastor, I went on a lot of missions, trips, and retreats.
15:19-15:23
And if you've been on a missions trip, then you know that you never have five star accommodations.
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Typically on these missions trips, we stayed in school buildings where mice roam free and the AC broke during the Reagan administration.
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It's just part of the entire experience.
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And there were two years in particular where all the guys on the trip were jammed into one room together.
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And let me just say, this wasn't the most hygienic and clean of places.
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Underwear open chip bags muddy socks littered the floor guys would put their wet gross laundry on the fans That were meant to keep us cool and to spread that aroma across the entire room At the end of the workday I would go back into that room and get smacked in the face with an abominable wall of stench It was like all the guys were fighting to see who smelled the worst, but they were all winning But what could I expect?
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Should I have expected that room to smell like a fresh meadow or the candle section at Bath and Body Works?
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No, when you get 20 guys in a room together with no AC, no open windows, after 10 hours in the blaring heat, there's gonna be a funky stench. It's unavoidable.
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What else could I expect?
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In a much greater way, we walk into a sinful world every single day and we are hit with a sinful stench, yet we so often act shocked by this development.
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You know, as a pastor, people often ask me, "Can you believe this is happening right now?
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"Can you believe our culture's accepting that?" And my answer's always the same.
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"Yeah, I can totally believe it.
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"What else do you expect?" The New Testament tells us that Satan is the ruler of this sinful age.
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He is the God of the sinful societies of this world.
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He is hard at work, deceiving, manipulating and twisting what is good.
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Why are we as Christians so shocked that people prefer the darkness to the light?
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Why are we so surprised that lost people act like lost people?
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We should know better than anyone that this world is a broken place and it is filled with many people who are blind to the truth, are blind to the glories of salvation in Jesus Christ.
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At this point, you may be thinking, so I should just do nothing, Taylor.
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I should just throw my arms up in the air and just say, well, corruption's inevitable, that's it.
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Well, that's not what I'm saying, and that's not what David is saying either.
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In the face of injustice, David makes it clear that we should pray that God will act.
18:05-18:08
We should pray that God will act.
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Let's read verses six to nine to unpack this a bit more.
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Oh God, break the teeth in their mouths.
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Tear out the fangs of the young lions, oh Lord.
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Let them vanish like water that runs away.
18:22-18:24
When he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
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Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime.
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Like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
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Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away.
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Remember those sharp teeth that we were just talking about?
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David asked, God, break those things like glass in their mouths.
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Defang these leaders who run around like wild lions before they can hurt anyone else.
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Let them be washed away from your people like in a ravine during a downpour.
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When they aim their bows of attack, let their arrows be blunted and broken.
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Let them melt away like on a hot summer day, like a snail in a pile of its own disgusting slime.
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And David's harshest comparison is one that's a bit hard to read and even say out loud.
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He asked these crooked leaders to be like a stillborn child that never gets to experience the light of day.
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Finally, may they be destroyed as quickly as a pile of dried up thorns being cooked over an open fire.
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It's easy to look at these verses and think, whoa, whoa, David, calm down, man.
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You must be hangry.
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Sit down, eat a Snickers bar, you'll go back to normal.
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We look at this and it seems like David is out of line.
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But actually, he is displaying a righteous anger, a holy indignation, a godly form of outrage.
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He's not blowing his top because Chick-fil-A got his order wrong.
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He's not losing his temper because he's stuck in standstill traffic like many of us lose our temper about.
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He is outraged that the weak are being preyed upon by those who should protect them.
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That many of the uppermost leaders around him refuse to practice basic human decency.
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that the wicked are flaunting their sin, acting like there is no God, there are no consequences.
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David uses harsh language for harsh realities of life.
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You know, it's a good and godly thing to pray that God would bring his justice to bear in every area of life.
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In 1 Timothy 2, verses one through two, we are called to pray for all the leaders that God has placed an authority above us, even the ones we don't like very much.
21:00-21:05
But that doesn't mean that we should pray for their continued victories in future elections.
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We should pray that those who are in office who are abusing their positions would be voted out in the next election cycle and replaced with those who advance godly legislation.
21:17-21:26
We recognize that God sovereignly put them in these positions for a reason, but we can also ask that he'll remove them from these positions in the future.
21:27-21:41
On the same note, we can pray that the Lord would bring consequences such as prison time upon elected officials and business leaders who continually break the law, lie through their teeth, and abuse the system for their own financial gain.
21:41-21:51
We should pray that wicked and violent dictators and tyrannical governments would be overthrown by the one true king of the universe.
21:51-22:06
We should pray that abusive and heretical pastors would be driven from their pulpits and replaced with faithful men of God who will humble themselves before the word to preach it and faithfully shepherd the flock.
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We should pray against websites like Pornhub, which continually grease the wheel of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
22:19-22:22
You know, there are two adult stores more than 10 minutes of my house.
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And very often when I drive by them, I ask that God would shut these businesses down.
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And there's one in particular that has a sinkhole in the parking lot that hasn't been fixed yet.
22:31-22:59
And sometimes I'll drive by and say, "God, at nighttime when no one's in the store, "please open up another sinkhole under the store "and destroy that place forever." We should pray that our holy God would let justice "down like a river, and righteousness "like an ever-flowing stream." But as I said at the beginning of this message, we need to find a balance with these kind of prayers.
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Yes, we should pray for justice to be carried out and for God to frustrate the plans of the wicked, but this shouldn't be our primary aspect of our prayer lives.
23:10-23:13
David wasn't praying like this 24/7.
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He wasn't praying like this all day, every day.
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We also shouldn't look at God as our personal score settler.
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God, zap that guy at work who's giving me a hard time.
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God, zap that guy in my neighbor who's doing something shady.
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They deserve it.
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Guess what?
23:30-23:30
You deserve it too.
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If you're a follower of Christ, never forget that God didn't give you what you deserve, which is his holy and just wrath for your sin.
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Instead, he gave his own son what you deserve and then gave you what Christ deserves, which is loving acceptance and never-ending fellowship.
23:53-23:59
Never forget where you were heading when God saved you and set you on the path to salvation.
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As we express our righteous anger, we must never lose sight of the command to love others and show the same grace that has been shown to us.
24:14-24:17
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus himself gives us this command.
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But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
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Jesus didn't just talk the talk, but he actually walked the walk when it came to loving his enemies.
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As he's hanging on the cross in agony, there are some who have the audacity to mock him.
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This is the son of God.
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This is the creator of the universe.
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He could have called down a legion of angels to hack them to pieces.
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He could have summoned flaming hail from heaven to light them up.
24:53-24:54
Is that what he does?
24:55-24:56
What does he do instead?
24:58-25:03
He prays for them and says, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
25:05-25:10
In Acts chapter 7, Stephen is stoned for his dedication to preach in the gospel.
25:11-25:29
And as he's being pelted with rocks, He looks up to heaven and says, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." These passages are so powerful and convicting because they go against the flow of our culture and our own fleshly tendencies.
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These examples from scripture reminded me of a true story that I heard in another sermon several months ago.
25:39-25:42
Moses Hall was a Jamaican pastor in the early 1800s.
25:43-25:47
And at that time in history, there were African slaves who were in Jamaica.
25:47-25:49
Many of them were Christians.
25:50-25:55
And these African Christians would often gather together to worship and to pray.
25:56-26:00
And Moses Hall and his assistant David led these times of prayer.
26:01-26:05
The only problem was these times of prayer were outlawed by the slave owners.
26:07-26:12
So unfortunately, one of these prayer meetings is discovered and the slave owners decide to make an example.
26:14-26:26
They grab a hold of the assistant David, they kill him, they decapitate him, and they put his head in the center of the village as a warning for everyone else.
26:28-26:46
They then drag Moses in the middle of the village and they point to David's head and they say, "Who is that?" And he says, "That's David." And they say, "Do you know why we did that?" And he said, "For praying." They said, "That's right, and the same is gonna happen "to you if you continue to pray.
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"No more prayer meetings." There's a lot of ways that Moses could have responded in that moment.
26:54-26:59
He could have submitted to their demands to never lead a prayer meeting ever again.
27:00-27:03
He could have vowed vengeance for the life of his friend.
27:05-27:14
And instead, he kneeled down and he said, "Let us pray." And all the African Christians got down with him and they prayed.
27:15-27:16
And do you know what they prayed for?
27:17-27:25
They prayed for the salvation of these slavers and these murderers who constantly abused and mistreated them.
27:26-27:27
How is that possible?
27:29-27:36
Because when you truly encounter the transforming grace of Jesus Christ, you can't help but extend it to others.
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It must become second nature for us to follow in the footsteps of our Lord and Master as we pray for those who mistreat us, those who oppose us and seek ways to hurt us.
27:51-27:57
In this Psalm, it's important to notice that David never asked God to withhold eternal forgiveness from his wicked leaders.
27:59-28:05
Yes, we should pray that the unjust would experience immediate penalties for their crimes in this life.
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But we should also pray that the eternal consequences for their sin would be washed away by the blood of Jesus.
28:15-28:25
May they be found guilty in the eyes of human courts for the sake of others, but may they be found not guilty in the high court of heaven for the sake of their eternal souls.
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We can pray for both of these things at the same exact time.
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Finally, how should I respond to injustice?
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I should rejoice that God is the righteous judge.
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I should rejoice that God is the righteous judge.
28:45-28:58
So several weeks ago, Pastor Jeff kicked off this sermon series by walking us through a Psalm of lament where Asaph is fed up with the reality that the wicked seem to get off scot-free with no consequences.
28:59-29:07
But by the end of the Psalm, he comes to the realization that he shouldn't envy the wicked because their end is tragic and sad.
29:08-29:14
And David comes to the same exact conclusion at the end of Psalm 58 and verses 10 through 11.
29:15-29:18
The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance.
29:18-29:21
He will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
29:21-29:25
Mankind will say, surely there is a reward for the righteous.
29:26-29:28
Surely there is a God who judges.
29:29-29:30
on the earth.
29:32-29:35
Whether in this life or the next, there will be consequences.
29:36-29:39
There will be a reckoning for the sins of these wicked leaders.
29:40-29:45
Because God sees, hears, and knows all.
29:46-29:49
He sees that back alley deal that nobody else sees.
29:49-29:54
He sees that wicked pillar of the community doing horrible things behind closed doors.
29:55-29:59
He sees the secret intentions and schemes of the heart.
29:59-30:02
No one really gets away with anything.
30:04-30:07
The Bible is so clear on the necessity of judgment.
30:09-30:17
Those who continually resisted the call to turn from their sin and trust in Christ will experience the full weight of the wrath of Almighty God.
30:18-30:25
Their shady track record will be exposed, and their secret sins will be shouted from the rooftops.
30:26-30:29
What was once openly flaunted will be openly punished.
30:31-30:37
God will inflict his righteous vengeance upon those who rejected him and his ways for all of eternity.
30:38-30:44
And David says that those who are righteous will rejoice when they see this long-delayed bill come due.
30:45-30:49
He says that they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
30:50-30:52
Now you may be thinking, Taylor, That sounds really gross and I don't want to do that.
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Well, thankfully it's metaphorical and not literal.
30:56-31:06
This means that God's people will share in his victory, like soldiers following a king and general through the streets of a city that has been conquered.
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We will share in the victory of our Lord.
31:10-31:19
But right now you may be thinking, "Taylor, you told us a few minutes ago "that we should pray for the salvation "of these wicked leaders, but now you're saying "that we're gonna rejoice at their downfall?
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Is that a contradiction?
31:21-31:22
Which one is it?
31:24-31:37
Well, to help you unpack this a little bit, imagine with me that one of the worst case scenarios happens to you that we've seen play out in many movies and news stories, as an armed intruder enters into your home.
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After repeated warnings, you unfortunately have to use deadly force.
31:45-32:00
You call the police, you do an investigation, "you are fully exonerated of all wrongdoing "because it was a clear-cut case of self-defense." In a sense, you would rejoice that your family is safe and sound, right?
32:01-32:04
But let me ask you, would you rejoice about what happened to the intruder?
32:04-32:06
Would you be happy about that?
32:07-32:11
No, you would feel a sense of weight and sadness that this had to happen.
32:12-32:16
You wish that they had listened to your repeated warnings to stop and to leave.
32:17-32:22
You wish there had been a different outcome, but there was no other choice in that moment.
32:24-32:25
It's the same with God's judgment.
32:26-32:45
Yes, we should rejoice that Jesus Christ will return to right every wrong and punish evil once and for all, but we should also feel a weight of sadness that there are many people who willfully reject eternal life, who willfully spurn the gospel.
32:47-32:51
We should share God's own attitude from Ezekiel 33, verse 11.
32:52-33:01
As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.
33:02-33:04
That is the heart of our God.
33:05-33:10
He does not delight in the punishment of those made in his image, and neither should we.
33:12-33:23
Brooming sin and injustice under the cosmic rug isn't an option for God because he is 100% pure and holy, it shouldn't look like a valid option to us as his holy people.
33:24-33:34
But since we love God and since we love people, we must live in this tension of both rejoicing and lamenting at the promise of judgment.
33:37-33:44
And for those of you who are in this room who are not Christians, Please know that I have been praying for you all week.
33:46-33:58
I have been praying that the Lord would cause you to repent of your sin and turn to Jesus Christ alone for salvation, to place your faith and trust in him alone.
33:59-34:03
Please know that judgment doesn't have to be your future.
34:03-34:06
Turn from your wicked way and live.
34:08-34:10
You can become a child of God.
34:10-34:13
you can become my spiritual brother and sister today.
34:14-34:16
I would love to have you in the family.
34:17-34:20
If you don't know where you stand with God, please talk to me after the service.
34:20-34:21
Please talk to Pastor Jeff.
34:21-34:24
We would love nothing more than to talk to you more about this.
34:25-34:31
Please don't leave this building today without making the most important decision of your life that will affect your eternity.
34:34-34:38
So David closes out this challenging psalm with a word of hope.
34:40-34:45
hope that will change our perspective on the present and on eternity.
34:46-34:52
Mankind will say, surely there is a reward for the righteous, surely there is a God who judges on earth.
34:53-34:59
Right now, on September 24th, 2023, it seems like there is no reward for doing the right thing.
35:00-35:03
It may seem like there aren't many consequences for doing the wrong thing either.
35:05-35:20
But according to this passage, according to the rest of the word of God, there will be a day when every single person will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a God who rules and reigns over heaven and earth.
35:20-35:30
And this God is not only a righteous judge, but a righteous rewarder of those who diligently seek after him, for those who persevere in this life.
35:32-35:39
And Paul speaks this in Galatians 6, 9, "Let us not grow weary of doing good." Why Paul, why should I not grow weary?
35:41-35:46
For in due season we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
35:47-35:54
So please do not grow weary of holding on to biblical convictions in a culture that hates what you stand for.
35:54-36:01
Do not grow weary of being a man or woman of integrity who always does the right thing no matter what.
36:02-36:07
Do not grow weary of loving your spouse when they fail to love you the way that they should.
36:08-36:14
Do not grow weary of discipling your children when it seems like they don't care at all about what you're saying or what you're doing.
36:15-36:22
Do not grow weary of seeking after the Lord in prayer when it feels like he's not even listening to you.
36:22-36:26
Do not grow weary because there is a reward for the righteous.
36:28-36:37
Pray for endurance, pray for patience, Pray that the Lord would change your perspective on this life and eternity.
36:40-36:47
I sincerely hope that the Lord has used this series and the Psalms to change your perspective on prayer.
36:48-36:54
I hope that these sermons have reminded you of the importance of being intentional and pursuing after the Lord.
36:55-36:59
We need to be intentional about finding a biblical balance in our prayer lives.
37:01-37:08
As we learned over the past month, we should lament before the Lord over the brokenness of this world, but ultimately trust that he is in control.
37:09-37:14
We should praise God for who he is, for what he has done and what he continues to do.
37:15-37:21
We should ask God for wisdom so that we can avoid the traps of our enemy and walk in holiness.
37:22-37:28
And finally, we should pray the Lord to bring his perfect justice because he always does what is right.
37:30-37:44
The Christian life will never be easy, but we make it way harder than it needs to be when we choose to be prayerless, when we choose to disconnect ourselves from the source of power, wisdom, and strength.
37:47-37:50
So let's put what we learn into practice and pray right now.
37:51-37:58
I want you to bow your heads, close your eyes, and go to the Lord for a few minutes and lift up your prayer life to him.
38:01-38:13
If your prayers have been few and lifeless lately, ask that the Holy Spirit would reenergize you and give you a greater passion to approach the throne of grace.
38:15-38:24
If you've been trying to white knuckle it through the struggles of life, ask that you be given a greater sense of your need for your heavenly Father day by day and moment by moment.
38:26-38:32
Also ask that our church's spiritual momentum with prayer and at the end of this month, Bo would continue on.
38:34-38:39
Let's come together to pray on purpose today, this upcoming week, and for the rest of our lives.
38:40-38:40
Go to the Lord in prayer.
38:43-38:49
Father, we come to you and thank you that we can come to you as our heavenly Father.
38:51-39:01
Lord, you love us, that you care for us, and that you want us to approach your throne at our time of need, or any time we just wanna talk to you, Lord.
39:02-39:05
Lord, we so often ignore this precious gift and we act like it's not a big deal.
39:06-39:09
Lord, help us remember we get an audience with our Creator.
39:09-39:12
We get to have an audience with the God of the universe.
39:14-39:17
Lord, I pray that you would re-energize many of our prayer lives.
39:17-39:33
Lord, we would seek after you every single day, that we would pray without ceasing continually throughout the day, Lord, that we wouldn't just rush into your presence with a list of demands, rather than rush out, that we take the time to praise you because you deserve our worship.
39:35-39:39
We take time to be thankful for all the good gifts you have given to us, Lord.
39:40-39:48
That Lord, we would pray for other people around us, we wouldn't be self-centered, Lord, that we would pray for your justice to come in this world.
39:48-39:53
Lord, we know that one day everyone will know that you are the righteous judge.
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all wickedness, all sin will be taken care of once and for all and banished forever.
39:59-40:05
We thank you for the victory of Christ, and we thank you that he will return to finalize that victory one day.
40:06-40:13
Lord, help us to truly worship you throughout the rest of the service, throughout the rest of our lives.
40:14-40:16
In the precious name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Psalm 58

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
As you reflect upon the Praying on Purpose series, how do you want your prayer life to change or improve moving forward?
What is an imprecatory psalm? Should we pray imprecatory prayers today? If the answer is yes, how do we find a biblical balance between praying for justice and praying for grace?
What is the difference between righteous anger and unrighteous anger? Which do you often display on a regular basis?
Re-read Psalm 58:10-11 - Why should it encourage us to know that the Lord is a righteous judge as well as a righteous rewarder?

Breakout
Pray for one another!

Guard Your Heart

Introduction:

Guard Your Heart… (Proverbs 4:20–27)

Give Thanks With Your Heart

Introduction:

I Give Thanks with My Whole Heart… (Psalm 138)

Confess From Your Heart

Introduction:

Why Should I Confess from My Heart? (Psalm 51)

Gratitude

Introduction:

Three Reasons We Are Giving Thanks Today (Psalm 138):

Praying on Purpose - Praying for Justice

Introduction:

How Should I Respond to Injustice? (Psalm 58)

Upcoming Small Group Questions CLICK HERE

How much of the Bible have we covered since 2011?

Introduction:

Guard Your Heart… (Proverbs 4:20–27)

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Introduction:

I Give Thanks with My Whole Heart… (Psalm 138)

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Introduction:

Why Should I Confess from My Heart? (Psalm 51)

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Introduction:

Three Reasons We Are Giving Thanks Today (Psalm 138):

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

How Should I Respond to Injustice? (Psalm 58)

Audio Transcript