Psalm 19: Soul Revival

Um so back in June we started a series on the Psalms and um we call it the road less traveled by and the idea is that God's desire is for us to know him more and the more we know him the more our response to him becomes that of worship, adoration, um honor all those things because it just makes sense, right? It just makes sense that the more we understand who God is and how he relates to us and and what his concerns are, then it it causes us to respond, it causes us to say, "Thank you and I'm so grateful and I (00:48) need you." And all the things that um all the ways that we express our gratitude and our response to him, our souls are wired for worship. We are wired for worship. We are wired for a relationship with God. And so today, we're going to do worship a little differently since we're not having music. (01:10) But worship isn't just music. Worship is our response to a God who has shown himself to us. And so, uh, he desires for us to, uh, express our delight, our humility, our gratitude, our lament, all the things that we've kind of been exploring through the Psalms. And so today, just for a few minutes, um, we're going to ask you to perhaps respond in a way after we read, we're going to read a couple passages from the some of the psalms that we have looked at since June. (01:45) And then we're going to ask you what have what did God teach you about that when we went through it? What are you hearing? And we're not asking for a long long um treatise more just like this is something I really have recognized because of this psalm. This is way that God has has moved me because of this psalm in this in the truth that we're reading. So, I'm going to read. (02:08) Joel's going to read and we're going to ask you, give you a chance to respond. Um, and just in a way that says, I'm honoring God by understanding more about him through this these words. So, I'm going to start with Psalms 1. And we've referenced it many times. And this is where uh the the Psalmist wants a to let us know that God desires a relationship with us in which we flourish. (02:37) He doesn't want us to just like live, you know, kind of plot along. He wants us to flourish. So, I'm going to read this. Blessed is the one who does not walk in the step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. (02:59) That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither, and whatever they do prospers. So Joel has gonna take a mic and if there's something that God had taught you or your the impression or something that you can really uh give back to God in honor because of those words, go ahead and Kyle. (03:28) Oh, you're gonna you're gonna um be the be the mic guy. Thank you. Okay, I see your hand over here. Well, um would like what I'd like to say is uh it's I guess you could say it's specific to uh Psalm one, but I think it's it's in general it's true of all the Psalms. And uh it's um a lot of the psalms when you read them sometimes they start out uh the the author is expressing some hardship at their life, some sadness, some anger, uh [clears throat] uh stress, u >> uh just wanting God to to come in and take the problem away to fix it. (04:29) >> But then it usually ends up in something very joyful and beautiful and wonderful >> and um I thought about that for a while and I thought, how many of those psalms were inspired by God and the the author just sat down and wrote them out? I think there's probably a few like that, but I think a lot of them came about because of hardship in their lives and they worked on it and thought about things and lived with a problem for a long time and were victorious. (05:04) God >> walked through them as they were meditating on >> their life and what was going on and >> and God showed him the victory that that he can have in their lives >> and that then they sat down and composed it >> uh with um planning it out so that the reader can understand this process >> that happened in their life and how important and how exciting and uh passionate that are >> that they were toward God. (05:37) >> So, u and I bet you that they just delighted, just really delighted and to write that old down and share us with us. >> Yeah. >> And uh and then for people like you and others that want to dissect them and understand them and see how they apply in your life is uh God's got you right where he wants you. It's good. (06:00) Anyone else in response to Psalm one or the Psalms in general? All right. In Psalm three, we [clears throat] read this. Lord, how many are my foes? How many rise up against me? This is what Kent was talking about. Many are saying of me, God will not deliver him. But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory. (06:30) the one who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep. I wake up again because the Lord sustains me. >> Any thought? Any response? I might just add my own response is when the writer says, "But Lord, you are a shield around me." I'm so grateful that I can rely on God to be a shield for me. (07:20) I don't know about you, but I feel the need for that so often. and a shield. Uh something you know the God that protects me and and then it who lifts my head and sometimes that that visual of looking down being discouraged and that God is the one who protects and lifts us up. That's a truth that we can take to the bank. (07:46) That is a truth that um that I can give honor and glory back to God for anybody else though. So this exercise that we're asking you to participate in is new and it's maybe challenging to speak out and yet I'd encourage you to think about it as giving a response to the audience of one the audience of God himself and we're just saying thank you for being the one who sustains me because I need it. (08:36) So I encourage you to don't don't concern yourself so much with, you know, thinking up something profound. Just ask, praise God, honor God, be grateful to him for something that that he shows him through in these passages. It's so easy to look at the Psalms and and think of uh the fact, well, I'm not like David. (09:14) I u I'm not surrounded by an army. I I don't have enemies that are seeking to take my life. And yet, um when you stop to think of it, we are surrounded by enemies. Um the Bible in the New Testament says that Satan is like a roaring lion prowling around seeking whom he may desire uh devour. And a lot of times I've heard someone say um we think we're on a picnic, but really we're in a spiritual warfare. (09:48) And uh the Lord said in his uh uh disciples prayer, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, the evil one. So um I know that it's easy for me in my little cubicle to think. Uh I don't have enemies. I I'm safe. Um and yet uh Satan is so active in attacking our minds and our thoughts. >> And uh we need to uh claim the psalm as as David said, the Lord is my shield. (10:26) >> And uh in the New Testament, we have so many reassurances that resist the devil and he will flee from you. So, um, this made me realize I I need to be aware that I'm not on a picnic. I am involved in a spiritual warfare >> and I'm on the victory side >> because Jesus has won the victory. >> Amen. >> And I can claim the victory in him. (10:51) >> Amen. >> Thank you. >> So, I'm reading from Psalm 8. Uh we we went over this a few weeks ago and this is where we are reminded that God is mindful of us. Do you remember talking about that in and it says this, "Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name that fills the earth. Your glory is higher than the heavens. (11:19) You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you. When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you set in place, what are mere mortals that you should think about them? Human beings that you should care for them. Does it move you at all to realize that God is mindful of you? The God who created the moon and the stars and the world and everything in it is mindful of you. (12:08) So I remember from the lesson that you taught in Psalm three that the first um word Lord you said um David was like oh Lord he was calling out to God. He was talking to God. He was He knew that, you know, God was who was going to save him in this situation. And I just um you know, we think about things. I'm always in my head. (12:33) I think about things all the time. And and he knows what I'm thinking. He's he knows what I'm feeling. And it's just it struck me like why not just have that conversation with him about it instead of just um >> stewing in a situation or on a words that were said and and just talk to him about it and just keep that conversation going. (12:56) >> Um, I would love to say that I'm in a place that um I'm not, but I would love to say I'm in a place that my first response is just to start a conversation with God. >> And so, um, that was a lesson learned that day. >> Amen. >> Thank you. Hi there. Yeah, I I was just thinking about the I like to look up and look at the universe and how beautiful it is. (13:44) And I'm getting a lot of pictures these days about, you know, people making picture of galaxies and whatever else. And just the way everything is designed all the way from, you know, the macro level down to, you know, the atom, it is so incredibly beautifully designed. And I'm in awe of that. >> And then in light of that and how big everything is. (14:10) >> Yeah. >> And how small we are that God is still mindful of us. That's kind of mind-blowing to me. >> It is. >> Amen. >> Praise God. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> That is so true. In Psalm 13, we had a lament of David or we do have a lament of David. And maybe you remember this. It says the how long passage. And he says, "How long, Lord, will you for how long, Lord, will you forget me? Forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my (14:56) enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord, my God. Give light to my eyes. I trust in your unfailing love. My heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the praises for he has been good to me. Um, I think this one just taught me kind of I've been through many seems like lately of waiting on God and not having those answers. (15:34) >> And I think being able to see how David even crying out to God for those answers, but even in not getting them, reminding himself >> of what God has done in the past. >> Yeah. >> And that we can look forward confidently >> because of the past, knowing that God >> God knows that those answers and um we don't necessarily need to know them to know that he is good and that um he has good things planned for us. (16:04) So that's what I learned from that one. >> Thank you. Yeah, that God's track record is flawless, right? >> Can I add something? >> Yeah. >> Um, [laughter] >> um, everyone in here has had how long moments and whether they were short or long, uh, suffering is still suffering. I think a lot of people will find God in suffering and a lot of people will lose him in the blessings. (16:43) Always put him first in the highs and lows when you're on top of the mountain or at the bottom of the ocean. >> Lean on him. >> Thanks, Kyle. Thank you. >> Yeah. Psalm 57. This is where David was hiding in a cave, afraid for his life, but he shifts his focus back to God. It says, "Have mercy on me, oh God. Have mercy. (17:19) I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by. I cry out to God most high, to God who will fulfill his purposes for me. My heart is confident in you, oh God. My heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises. Wake up my heart. I personally just liked that last that verse eight [clears throat] in there, the command to his heart to wake up. (18:09) Um, and just to uh I think there's a tendency maybe a little bit of what you were talking about Kyle of trying we're so focused in so many things in life that it gets easy to allow our hearts to just kind of go to sleep and we go on we go on routine and we go on routine spiritually and we have things down to where we feel like we're doing okay. (18:34) And I just think that is if nothing else out of that verse the and that passage was the challenge to wake up. Um it's you know I can as David was struggling with there see my surroundings and become discouraged if you remember in there he was in a cave but he was also in a cave with uh 400 others who were whining and complaining as well and uh things everybody was looking down and he determined to to wake up and look. (19:02) I just think that's wise words. We then move to Psalm 16 where in fact Psalm 16 and we're reference Psalm 15 as well but this whole section where we are even going into today is is um focusing on God and we did in Psalm 16 as the one thing in our life uh determining not to be divided. Jesus himself talked about that we are not to have a divided heart because in with a divided heart he says that God will always come out second and God does not compete and so uh he challenges us David does in this psalm keep me safe oh God for I have come to (19:50) you for refuge I will bless the Lord who guides me even at night my heart uh my heart instructs me I know the Lord is always with me I will not be shaken for he uh is right beside Hide me. One of my responses to that is um I was kind of struck when he said, "I will bless the Lord who guides me." You see, he's giving a response back to God. (20:39) He is honoring God. And imagine that what our response is a blessing to God. That's that's remarkable that I can do anything that would honor and bless God and that he finds blessing in us being aware of him. It says, "I will bless the Lord who guides me." It's like, "Thank you, God. (21:05) You are you are always going ahead of me. You're always beside me. You're always with me." and uh he will not be shaken. I I'm moved by that that truth. Anybody else? >> Sue, you don't need to stand if you don't want. I know that I get, you know, as you get older, you get all these things that come into your head that make you feel less worthy sometimes when you're you can't do something. um you'll get down. (21:46) But a lot of that those negative thoughts, you know, like Joan was talking about, our our greatest enemy is constantly in invading our minds and our our thoughts and trying to to tell us that we're less than [clears throat] >> than what we are >> to make us forget about >> who God says we are and who, you know, who we are under God and and with God. (22:13) Um, the one thing that always brings me back to focus is the one just one thing that says God is greater. And it's I'll forget every other prayer or every other verse or everything that's ever led me through that I've memorized. And then that just that one thing remembering God is greater. And it leads me immediately into praise and worship. (22:38) >> That God is greater than all my sorrows and all my fears. all my the negative thoughts that come into my head. >> He's greater than Satan. He's he's greater than everything that I know that's affects this world or that affects me. Uh he takes my mind off of myself and puts it back on him. >> Yeah. >> And um just remembered that he is greater uh focusing it. (23:06) and it leads me immediately into worshiping him and praying about all the things in that situation that he's helping me through. >> Um, and the more momentum you gain, the the greater the joy inside your heart that lifts you out of it. >> Thank you. >> That's my key. >> Yeah. Thank you so much. And last uh Psalm 15, we did this went through this last week and talking about an unshakable life. (23:39) If any of us can relate to the desire to have an unshakable life, David says this, "Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?" He's doing that self assessment. Who Lord, how how do I live close to you? said, 'The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart, who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps an oath even when it hurts. (24:07) Whoever does these things will never be shaken. What did God teach you through that psalm? extra charge. But yes, [laughter] >> there's a mic. >> If uh if getting close to God can keep me from shaking, >> can take away the fear that's could be otherwise in my heart, >> then I'm I'm declaring that he is capable. He has all that power to do that. (24:51) >> Amen. >> No, nobody can stop him from helping me to not shake. >> Amen. >> And um it's like uh well soon I don't have children, but I remember when our our dog uh was uh we were traveling and he got lost >> and and he was when we finally caught up with him, he was shaking. He was shaking and we just picked him up and kept hugging him and hugging him >> and then he finally was calmed down and it's like a mother whose child has fallen down and hurt themselves and they pick them >> they pick the child up and they just (25:32) love him and calm them down and pretty soon >> eventually the child is happy and smiling and >> but it just shows that uh we need to go to God when we need help But uh I think uh uh from God's perspective, there's three three priorities. Um one of them he's a designer. He builds. He creates things. Richard kind of hit on this. (26:13) huge things, small things, and he delights in everything that he makes because it's just so perfect and just amazing. And he loves it. He loves what he creates. >> And he doesn't want to throw it away. He wants to keep it. And he wants to just keep doing it again and again. But it doesn't stop there. He wants a relationship with it. (26:37) >> So he wants to be our father and he wants us to come to him. He wants to love us and calm us down and then give us more. Give us more and more to delight in him and to to prove his love for us >> and that um times we have to suffer and uh I think Job may be one of them. Of course, he had some things going on with God had some things going on with the devil in this competition, I guess. (27:11) But God wanted Job, I think he suffered as long as he did because God wanted to show to him that just the real answer, the ultimate answer is just to be with God. He's your father. >> He loves you. That's where you belong. >> And he wants you to love you back. You You hit on that when praising God and blessing him. (27:33) You're just saying, "God, I love you. I love you. >> You're where I want to be." Mhm. Amen. Amen. >> Building on that, I think sharing relationship with others and building that within your own family. >> That's how it's touching me. >> Thank you, Sue. Good. >> Um, I think everyone pretty much mentioned that a lot of the psalms um kind of start with a problem or um suffering, but I think um it's important that we remember who God is and that he is not only with us in our suffering on the side of us protecting us. (28:27) He's also within [clears throat] us and that was a gift from the Holy Spirit. And um whenever we are suffering you know we can call on God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit even within us um to help us to calm us um in those difficult times. >> So just remembering that >> we have God inside of us as well. >> Amen. >> Thank you. (28:50) >> It's good. Anyone else? All right. Here's what I'm going to ask is just uh we've thought through this uh in relationship to just giving thanks and worshiping God. I'm going to ask just for about a minute you can talk to God in silence. So silence is a good thing. Uh and then I will close our time out in prayer. (30:20) Father, we have just walked back through some of these psalms that we've looked at and they're so full of truth of who you are, what you do for us, how interested you are, and how mindful you are of us. How you're aware of the the problems that uh can overtake us. You're even aware of the thoughts that we have in our minds and you are constantly desiring for us to turn and to just remember you desire to be at our right hand. (30:52) You want us to walk with you and be unshaken. You want us to know your presence and your power. You want us to experience the joy of being able to sink roots deep into you and your presence. And so I pray that we continue to as we are in this series and in our own individual lives that we are constantly desiring to ask ourselves where is God in the midst of this? Where am I in relationship with God? How am I learning from him? How am I leaning on him? How am I experiencing him? How am I expressing the joy of knowing him? So Lord, speak to us. We (31:27) give you praise this morning. Thank you for all that you have done and all that you do. Jesus name. Amen. >> All right, you're going to help me out for a minute here. I want you to turn, greet somebody around you. Kids, I think, have they gone already or are we on? >> So, turn and greet somebody. Tell them that you are >> glad that they're here. (33:00) It's It's on. It's on here. >> All right. Some of you are still ignoring me. >> I'll start naming names now. [snorts] I glad I'm glad that you want to have continued conversation. Well, it's good to spend time in a different way in worship this morning and maybe cause our minds to think a little more broadly. (33:27) So, I think that is good. And I'm going to take us to a psalm today that um I've been looking forward to in this series. This is one of this is a psalm that I've really wanted to get to. And so and as a result, we're going to spend uh a few weeks, at least two weeks, maybe three weeks, who knows, in this psalm because it's very rich. And uh that is Psalm 19. (33:52) And uh we will we will start into it this morning and we'll be going deeper in the next week at least if not a couple weeks. But to start our time off, I want to start with what we reviewed this earlier. I mentioned it earlier. I'm going to go back to Psalm 1 for a minute. I want to read a couple verses out of Psalm 1. (34:13) Then I'm going to ask you three questions. And I'm going to ask that uh if you can write these three questions down. uh do your best to remember them the however that works for you. The reason I want you to do that is because I want you to be considering them for the next couple of weeks as we're in Psalm 19. But I want you for your own spiritual health to be considering these questions as we walk in the midst of these truths that we're hearing in in Psalm 19 because these questions are I want to I guess what I'm doing is I'm kind of (34:44) preloading your frontloading your uh mind as we hit Psalm 19. So let's start with Psalm 1. Says this, "Oh the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked or stand around with sinners or join in with the mockers." When we started in Psalm 1, the introduction was the wise will understand this. (35:05) Choose the path you're going to walk in life. We are in this series uh the one less traveled by. We are saying that we are deliberately choosing the harder path to follow. Jesus in his in the we read and walk with him, he talked about um you know narrow is the is the way and few are they that that find it. (35:27) Broad is the way that leads to destruction, he said. And so we want to be the few that find the narrow way. And that's what this is uh this series is about. And he's saying and we're being instructed right here in Psalms that by choosing not just the way we're going to go then also determines where uh we find value in life, the people we listen to, the situations we put ourselves in, uh where we what we allow to determine our values for us. (35:55) And so he's saying the wise refuse to go with the with the mocker or with the sinner. Uh but they delight in uh the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the river banks, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither and they prosper in all that they do. I don't know about you, but Psalm 1, when I memorized that as a kid, that was what I liked about it. (36:24) Now, I've learned more insight into it, but what I liked was they uh leaves never wither and they prosper in all that they do. That sounds to me if that's what's being promised. And as a kid, I'm thinking, why doesn't why doesn't everybody choose that? I mean, it kind of seems to make sense. If that's what's being promised, I'm going that way. (36:45) And so, as we sit here as adults, I'm going to ask you, why don't we go that way? We have to make that choice. That's not one of my three questions either, but I think it's worth asking. Why don't we go that way? Why don't we choose it? So when we were in that in Psalm 1, I stated to you that when it talks about the law of the Lord and and in Psalms, this is particularly true. (37:10) There are two meanings to that phrase. And oftentimes we when we read it is the in our English language, we'll read law of the Lord and we think the law that was given to the Israelites in the Old Testament and you know I've got to go read Deuteronomy to understand it and I don't really find it all that exciting but I'm supposed to meditate on it and know it and it's like okay maybe that's why I don't chose this choose this way. (37:35) It's kind of boring and it's hard and I don't like it. But there's another aspect of the law of the Lord and I think this is where we sometimes totally miss it which brings delight to the first one that I mentioned and that is this. There is a law of the Lord that exists in all of his creation. Everything around [clears throat] us cries out the truth of God. (37:58) Creation was intended for that purpose. Do you understand? Earlier I appreciated what Richard was saying in bringing out the truth of the intricacies of creation clear down to the atom to everything how it's so perfectly woven together. This is part of the law of the Lord. The law of God as David was writing this as the psalmist proclaimed that throughout there is an understanding that life as it has been given to us and we look around and I've mentioned this already in this series is intended to draw my soul back to God. You see, God didn't (38:32) put us into a creation that was absent of his presence to make it even harder for us. He didn't say, "Here, I'm putting you in a desert that is so devoid of me that you're going to have to work super hard to find me, and only a few can do that. That's not what's being said in scripture. In fact, God in his kindness and in his goodness, in fact, I'll take just a second here. (38:58) If you haven't picked up on this in narrative within scripture, you're missing a heart of of really what God is uh has proclaimed to us and why Jesus came and what the everything um and it's this God created humanity in his image to dwell with him and placed them where? It's not a trick question. (39:20) Placed them in a garden. That garden was perfect. Everything about it was what was necessary for them, Adam and Eve, to be able to have a full and complete relationship with God and experience the fullness of life in all that he had done. What happened when Adam and Eve sinned? They were cast out of the garden. All of scripture, if you're not aware of this, has a garden motif going through it. (39:50) and God's redemption, redeeming of his creation to bring us back in where heaven and earth meet is this perfect garden experience. It's not that the plants themselves matter, but the plants are an expression of the presence of God. They call the soul to see that God is with them. Your soul was created to know God, walk with God, love God, rejoice in God, breathe in God. (40:16) Everything about you is an expression of your creation to know him. And so when he was kind enough, even when we were pushed out of the garden and the effect of sin affected even this creation, it still cries out for God and wants to drag your soul with it. We need to understand that. And when there are the the pictures in this motif of the garden is God's intent in scripture even to Christ hanging on a on a tree. (40:48) It is part where did Jesus go before and when he was praying to the father he could have done anything that night before he goes to a garden and in the midst of that garden father if it can be taken from me take it from me. But I know what must happen. I've got to bring heaven back to earth. I've got to bring you back to the midst of these people. (41:10) I've got to redeem them. So, not my will, but yours be done. You were not placed in a desert. You were placed in the heart of God's intent. And all of creation in its intricacy, beauty, and majesty cries out to your soul. Look up. Seek him. Know him. If you're silent, we'll cry out. That's what you were created for. One of the things that Renee and I love about the new place that we have is it's got I don't know there's 20ome large fur trees on really tall real big fur trees on the property and we love sitting at night. We uh partly because our house is (41:54) totally destroyed. Uh we sit out on the and eat all our meals outside. But the beauty is that the wind's blowing and those trees make a music when the wind blows through them and it is a constant reminder of the presence of God. So now I'm going to ask you some questions. Number one, do you ever consider the state of your soul? Do you ever consider the state of your soul? Now, we could spend a bunch of time talking about that. (42:41) You are a soul placed in a body that was designed to know and walk with a with God. Without God, you're it's like dehydrating yourself. Can you still function? We can still function, but it's suppressing and killing off a portion of who we really are. We don't come alive until we're breathing in the presence of God. So, do you ever take in the state of your soul? And I'm going to give you a little caveat on that. (43:12) If you are not doing that, what's the kind way to say this? Uh, start doing it. Okay. But it's it's not until we start asking the question will we really become aware of how God is speaking to you and to us continually. You've got to and if you haven't picked up yet on on this and we saw it even in the Psalms we just read uh earlier in our in our worship time is that in the in all of the activities of life to place ourselves in a spot where we are continually reminding ourselves that we have a soul and that soul needs God. (44:05) I often times when I'm doing things and working and I've been doing a lot of things around the house, I'm really bad at hydrating myself. I don't drink very much and Renee is always reminding me, have you had anything to drink? I'm too busy. But I feel the effect. If I do not drink enough one day, oh, the next day I will feel it. (44:27) Have you guys Do you know what I'm talking about? And so I'm trying to get a little bit smarter on that. I'm trying. Renee laughs. I'm trying to get smarter because the headache the next day, the the exhaustion, all the things that go with I don't have to be feeling this way if I had thought just a little more yesterday. I want you to act the same way with your soul. (44:51) What is the condition of my soul? Have I hydrated it? Am I? What did Psalm one? They are like trees planted by living waters. Their roots go deep. We need, our souls need spiritual water. And here's what's great. I'll say it again. God didn't place you in a desert. He placed you in a creation where his water is present all the time. (45:19) And that creation, the green, the wind, the birds, it all is intended to speak to your soul. They're not just there for looking pretty, though they do. They really are intended. I I can't say this enough. I'm not making it up. It's not hyperbole. It's not Oh, this is a cute thing to say. It literally is there for you. (45:44) So, the next time you're bug that there's ants in your house, I want you to look at them differently before you spray them. [laughter] God's creation is amazing. And who did he make it for? He was mindful of you. We just saw that earlier in what we were reading. If he was mindful of you in the process of creation and he's mindful of you now, do you think creation might have a purpose in your life? I'm going to tell you yes, it does. (46:16) We're going to see that here in a little bit, but I want you to do that. So, first question, do you ever consider the state of your soul? Question two, this may seem like it's going off somewhere alltogether different. [clears throat] How much of life can you control? Megan, I appreciated what you said earlier and knowing your story about just uh the howongs and thinking of those things. (46:46) You see, if we let the circumstances of life determine uh what to that they're an expression of what we can control, we're going to be in real trouble. But I'll guarantee you this. This would be fun to actually do, but we won't do it. If we were to sit down and have a conversation as a group, I guarantee you there are parts of your life that you actually think you're in control of. (47:13) Now, should we, again, you could argue, well, wait a minute. God tells us that we are to uh the wiser will look at the ant. Sorry for bringing them up again. Will look at the ant and and say, oh, there's something I can learn here. There are things we can continually learn. But when if my learning is to grasp control, I'm not learning anything. (47:35) What I am to learn is how to live without thinking I'm in control. God's in control. And the more and more I see my lack of control, the more and more I am able to surrender. It's not a desperation surrender. The ant isn't desperate. It just goes out because it knows there's food out there somewhere. I'm going to find it and then I'm going to go back and tell my buddies and they're going to all go into your house because that's what they've learned. (48:07) That's what they know. They don't wake up in the morning and go, "Oh, I've got such a big thing to do. I've got to cross that lawn and into that house to find the food." They just do it. You see, we have to understand we're actually not in control. That's a pretty simplistic sounding statement. I would say it's one of the hardest things for human beings to really grasp. (48:31) Because here's why it is rooted in the garden. What was it that Eve was told and what did she do? And when she handed that fruit to Adam and he's standing right there with her, oh, we can control just a little bit. You can know, you can know what you can control. You can make the decisions. [cough] It has [clears throat] been a problem and a struggle for us as human beings since the fall in the garden. (49:09) Okay, [clears throat] I'm going to bring those two questions together now. So, this first question is, do you consider the state of your soul? Question number two, how much in life can you really control? And I I said, I want you to write these down and I want you to consider them. Take that question, the last one, the control issue, and I'm going to challenge you next couple of weeks. (49:29) [clears throat] I want you to be honest with yourself. You don't have to share it with anybody else. Be honest with yourself. Where are you trying to gain control or hang on to control? How much of the stress in your life is some circumstance trying to take your control away from you? You see, it's when we learn to fully surrender control, we let that push away. (49:56) We'll see God again. And he was standing there the whole time. Third question, [clears throat] how is the pursuit of control affecting your soul? How is the pursuit of control in your life affecting your soul? I think sometimes another confession I will make about myself. [clears throat] I'm not good at hydrating. (50:27) I also have another weakness and that is I have said this before. I'll make sure I'm clear on this one. I enjoy Coke, not the drink. Right? Okay. So, I enjoy that. I will often reach for a can of Coke before I reach for a glass of water. What's interesting is and to me there's some parallel here is it I enjoy the taste. (50:52) It seems to satisfy my thirst but it's actually working against me what my body needs. It's the same effect that trying to control things that are out of our control has upon us. We exert effort. We think we've accomplished something. We've got our hand, we just about got this thing wrapped up and we don't realize it's actually drying out our souls because we're not surrendering to God. (51:21) Okay. So, I'm going to all I'm going to do here today is I'm going to introduce the first four verses. We're going to start there again next week, but I just want to introduce this first four verses because I want you to listen to them now in light, I hopefully have prepped your minds a little bit to listen well as we go into the psalm. (51:44) The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day, they continue to speak. Night after night, they make him known. They speak without a sound or a word. Their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth and their words to all the world. Who is that message intended for? I want us to think about that. (52:11) We're going to jump into that next week. I love where David starts. There is actually a pattern here. I'm not going to get into it. That's next week. He starts out. He says, "Look up and look out." He does that in several of Psalms. We made some mention of that. This one he is very very deliberate and he's wanting the the the reader to walk with him to consider life and and in that process he's saying look look up big think big to the extent of creation you and I do you realize within creation we're very limited and very (52:44) small I hope you understand that if you haven't figured that out yet I don't know you got a hard day coming some point along the But he's saying, you look up and you see the stars at night. They're proclaiming the truth of the existing God. They're proclaiming the law of God. You look at a waterfall on a hike and you go, "Whoa, that's gorgeous. (53:10) " And it's got a voice that if you listen carefully, maybe the words haven't been heard, but the truth is being spoken to your soul. Maybe you're watching a a bird at the bird feeder and you are reminded in the midst of that it's part of creation. He's saying, "Open your eyes to the law of the Lord." I'm going to just have us end here for and go into communion this morning. (53:40) And I want to make a transition here for you. God sent his son. For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. Belief is a surrender of the soul, the control of life to the living God. The payment had to be made because in the garden we chose an independent path. (54:12) We chose our own control. That's the effect of sin. We've been dealing with it ever since. You and I aren't excused from it. We still do. But Christ came to redeem you so that your soul can be revived. In Psalm 19, David's ultimate, if he were to sit with us today, what was the one point, David, that you wanted us to get out of this psalm? You can go read the psalms. (54:47) See if you don't find it here. I would state these words for him. Is this, I want everyone to know how to revive their soul. I want everyone to know how to revive their soul. And David has stated these truths throughout his writings that he believes that every soul and I believe scripture is very clear about this. (55:16) Every soul is intended to come alive in the presence of God. It was created by God for God. but we let control get in the way. So, as you come to take communion this morning, I want to I want to have you consider a couple things with me. Those elements of communion represent the blood of Christ. That blood was necessary, he said, to de uh to give to us to offer to us a new covenant, a new relationship with God through the forgiveness of our sins. (55:52) where we chose independent rebellion, Christ said, "My blood covers over it so that you can come back into relationship with God." And then the the the bread or the the cracker that we will have up here that you will take represents the obedience of Christ that it is full surrender for the soul to feel the fullness of life. (56:12) And Christ modeled that and gave us his surrender so that we can come back into life with God. I say that to you is because we can make taking communion a religious activity and is actually intended to be an expression for the soul to be reminded. Do this in remembrance of me. That your soul is of great value and worth to God. (56:36) That it is intended to be alive, not suffering in dehydration, but to be fully fully hydrated. Fully alive in the presence of God. Let that blood of Christ bring the hydration that your soul needs. And be reminded that you have been bought with a price. Be reminded of your value before God. You are of great worth. (57:01) And so as you take this, ask the first question I gave you. What is the state of your soul?