November 27, 2022 – Sunday Service Live Stream

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood

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Greetings. Grace and peace to you in the name of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome to the glorious corporate worship of our

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God. Please stand. Brethren, you have come to Mount Zion and to the

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City of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the

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General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Babel.

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Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it is a privilege and an honor that you would call us into your presence.

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We pray that our worship would be pleasing in your sight, that you would attend our prayers, that our psalms and hymns would be acceptable to you, that our reading of the

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Word and preaching of the Word and our sacrament would be building up and edifying to your people.

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O Lord, we lean and trust and rest on your promises that you would be our

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God and that we would be your people. We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ.

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Please kneel for the corporate confession of sin. Let us confess our sins together in unison.

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God of love, it is your will that we should love you with heart, soul, mind, strength, and our neighbor as ourselves, but we are not sufficient for these things.

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We confess that our affections continually turn away from you, from purity to lust, from freedom to slavery, from compassion to indifference, from fullness to emptiness.

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Have mercy on us. Order our lives by your Holy Word and make your commandments the joy of our hearts.

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Conform us to the image of your loving Son Jesus, that we may shine before the world to your glory.

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Amen. Please stand. It is appropriate for the forgiven

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Christian to come with a sense of sobriety and awe and reverence for God and his holiness, and that's why we confess our sins.

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It is also appropriate for us to recognize and acknowledge the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness.

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Receive now the assurance of pardon. My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin, and if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the

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Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.

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O people, rejoice today in Christ. We have the forgiveness of sins. Amen. Please take up the handle and turn to number 203.

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Came with ten men to Gedaliah, the son of At -Mizpah, and they ate bread together at Mizpah.

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Then Ishmael, the son of Nithaniah, and the ten men who were with him, arose and struck

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Gilead, the son of Hayekam, the son of Shaphan, with a sword, and killed him whom their king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

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Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is, with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the

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Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war. And it happened on the second day after he had killed

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Gedaliah, when as yet no one knew it, that certain men came from Shechem to Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men with their beards shaved, with their clothes torn, having cut themselves with offerings of incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the

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Lord. Now Ishmael, the son of Nithaniah, went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went along.

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And it happened as he met them that he said to them, Come to Gedaliah, the son of Hayekam.

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So it was, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael, the son of Nithaniah, killed them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, and the men who were with him.

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But ten men were found among them, who said to Ishmael, Do not kill us, for we have treasures of wheat, barley, oil, and honey in the field.

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So he desisted, and did not kill them among their brethren. Now the pit into which

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Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain, because of Gedaliah, was the same one

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Esau the king had made for fear of Basha, king of Israel. Ishmael, the son of Nithaniah, filled it with the slain.

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Then Ishmael carried away captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king's daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom

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Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah, the son of Ahicham.

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And Ishmael, the son of Nithaniah, carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites.

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But when Johan, the son of Korea, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael, the son of Nithaniah, had done, they took the men, they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael, the son of Nithaniah.

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And they found him by the great pool that is in Gibeon. So it was, when all the people who were with Ishmael saw

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Yonan, the son of Korea, and all the captains of the forces who were with them, that they were glad.

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Then all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Yohanan, the son of Korea.

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But Ishmael, the son of Nithaniah, escaped from Yohanan with eight men, and went to the

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Ammonites. When Yohanan, the son of Korea, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael, the son of Nithaniah, after he had murdered

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Gedaliah, the son of Aachem, the mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs whom he had brought back from Gibeon, and they departed and dwelt in the habitation of Kimham, which is near Bethlehem.

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As they went out, as they went on their way to Egypt, because of the, because of the Chaldeans, they were afraid of them, because Ishmael, the son of Nithaniah, had murdered

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Gedaliah, the son of Aachem, whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land. This is the word of the

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Lord. Let us now confess our faith through the singing of the

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Apostles' Creed. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

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Lord, lead us in the life of repentance. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

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Help us to find our strength in you. Father, we ask that you would be our strength.

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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Lord, may we always seek first your kingdom.

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Father, we are a selfish people, always going after our own desires. I pray that today you love us.

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Did I skip blessed are the meek? I did. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

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Lord, keep us mindful of what forgiveness means. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see

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God. Lord, create in us clean hearts. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

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Lord, help us to pursue peace. When we enter into meditation and deep diving into the scriptures on the incarnation of the

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Prince of Peace, God, may we truly fall more and more in great awe into what he has made with us.

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He has given us peace. He has brought peace into this world. And first and foremost, he has made peace with us and for us.

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God, may we, by your spirit, by your grace, have a look like Christ, go about more and more replicating his work, appointing people, sinners, lost souls to Christ, that they may have peace with him, the peace that you have given us.

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Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake.

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Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

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Please take up the inserts and turn to our Psalm of the

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Month, Psalm 119. In one quick word, we are down by nearly half of our people, and this psalm has been extraordinary in the life of our church, so we have to double our efforts with zeal and joy to sing

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Psalm 119. Sense of expectancy, it is

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God's holy and infallible word. Psalm 27

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The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall

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I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall

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I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell.

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Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.

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Though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident.

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One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the

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Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the

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Lord, and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble

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He shall hide me in His pavilion. In the secret place of His tabernacle

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He shall hide me, He shall set me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me.

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Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle. I will sing, yes,

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I will sing praises to the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when

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I cry with my voice. Have mercy also upon me and answer me.

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When you said, Seek my face, my heart said to you, Your face, Lord, I will seek.

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Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger.

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You have been my help. Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.

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When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me.

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Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path because of my enemies.

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Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries. For false witnesses have risen against me in such as breathe out violence.

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I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the

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Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord.

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Be of good courage and He will strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the

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Lord. O Lord, we come to you today as a thankful people, a joyful people.

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But we also come with sadness and brokenness and infirmity, weakness, frailty.

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Or we pray that you would enable us to communicate the reality of our hearts.

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That we would give ourselves entirely to you, that we would not withhold the lament of our own hearts.

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And in so doing, that we would find comfort and encouragement. For you are a

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God who longs to hear from us, all of us, in all of our circumstances. And we ask all these things in the name of Jesus.

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Amen. Please be seated. This is a great calendar year for us because Advent starts at the end of November.

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And we get to worship the Lord on Christmas Day, on the actual day.

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It's a wonderful thing that happens about every seven years or so. So we start our season of Advent today.

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I want you to ask the question. I want you to ponder and consider, what is Advent?

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Well, it is the period the Church has historically prepared for the commemoration, the remembrance of the

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Incarnation, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it is a reminder for us to prepare for the second coming of Christ.

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We forget that part of it when we think about Advent. We think about Jesus being born, the

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Incarnation, incredibly important events. But we also look to the future.

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We look back and we look ahead to the future and the second coming of Christ. After the fall of man into sin,

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God gave Adam and Eve a promise of salvation. That first gospel is found in Genesis 3 .15.

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It is interestingly embedded in the cursing of the serpent.

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And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed.

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He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. There was a lot of waiting and preparation for the arrival of Jesus Christ in the flesh.

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Think about just the breakdown of your own Bible. Three quarters of it anticipatory, pointing, waiting to Christ.

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Or sermon series in Zechariah. Point longing for the day when

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Christ would come. The whole history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Israel is in some senses an

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Advent. It's all pointing to the coming, to the parousia, to the arrival of Jesus Christ.

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To fulfill all those righteous things, to be our Savior, to be our mediator. The whole of history, burden, waiting for the appearance of Christ.

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Today, we live in the last days. For 2 ,000 years or so,

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Christ has come. There are things happening, but the arrival of Christ is the

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Advent of the end of things. It's a time of rejoicing.

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And maybe surprising to you today. And what we want to focus on. It's also a time of lament and waiting.

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I don't know about you, but I had an interesting Thanksgiving. It was an unusual

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Thanksgiving for me. And I ate Thanksgiving a couple of times. And there's something about the feast.

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When I came to my mother's house for Thanksgiving dinner, I was hungry, very hungry.

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And we ate dinner, first meal around 1 o 'clock. My belly was growling, so I ate a lot of food.

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It was very satisfying to my soul. But as I'm prone to do, no doubt,

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I overate a bit. The feast day, I have no remorse for it. But I went to eat again in the dinner time hour.

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And the feast wasn't as festive. I was already full.

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I was over full. And I think when we enter into this season, we want every day of Advent to be

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December 25th. We want every day to be parties and happiness and joy and laughter.

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But I think what we'll find is we'll have a spiritual bellyache. Because in order to feast, we have to fast.

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In order to really feast, we have to be fasted. And we enter into that feast.

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Today, I hope you find the message in some ways dissatisfying. I hope you find it lacking and wanting.

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I hope you're longing for more to come. I'm hoping that you leave just a little bit on,

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I wish there was more. Because there is more. There's more that is to come. Today, we're going to focus a little on the waiting.

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Do you cry out to God today to be finally freed from sin and death?

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Christ came to conquer sin and death. But what about the wretched sin that resides in my body?

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What about the death that I will have to pass through before I enter into the rest of my

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Lord? Those things are still here. I'm still fighting the battle against the sin that Christ has conquered.

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And so, I wait. And so, you wait. You wait for the

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Lord. We long to see the name and honor of the Lord vindicated.

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We long for the final victory. Today, the wicked laugh in the streets and mock our

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God. How long, O Lord, how long? So, we wait.

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Today, for you note -takers, I have seven little points.

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I'm going to be very quick with each of them. Quick for me. I'm going to give those to you now, just to help you.

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You don't have to take these notes, but it may be helpful to you to see the direction we're going. First, I want to consider

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David's confidence in verses 1 -3 of Psalm 27. David's confidence.

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Second, and all of these start with David, so you can put David's 1 -7. Second is

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David's desire. That will cover verse 4.

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David's confidence, the first one, verses 1 -3. David's desire, verse 4.

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Number 3, David's deliverance. We'll talk about that in verse 5.

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In verse 6, we will consider David's doxology. David's doxology.

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Number 4, David's doxology. Number 5, David's lament. This is not a psalm of lament generally, but there is a prayer of lamentation in the midst of Psalm 27, in my estimation.

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David's lament, verses 7 -12. Number 6,

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David's belief. Verse 13, David's exhortation.

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Verse 14, and that is, wait on the Lord. That's the exhortation that David's going to give.

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It's a very interesting psalm in its makeup. There are a number of plausible contexts given for David's writing of Psalm 27.

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It spans from close to the time of Goliath all the way to his old age.

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A range of opinion about when Psalm 27 was crafted. I tend to believe this is given in the incident in his pursuit by Saul.

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I believe this is post -anointing, pre -Saul's death,

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Psalm 27. I believe it's in that time, but there's certainly good evidence for it to be one of the others.

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Let's consider first David's confidence. Incredible statement. This is one of the most memorable psalms.

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I've heard a couple of psalms. My good friend recorded an album with this song. It's burned into my memory, this song that he sang here.

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The Lord is my light and my salvation. This is the basis of David's confidence.

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In the beginning, the Lord said, let there be light, and there was light. We often associate light with the

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Lord. In fact, when you consider the Hebrew scriptures in particular, this contrast of light and dark is a very powerful, simple image that God is pleased to use over and over again to help us understand.

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It's very apparent to the most learned and most young among us that there is a great difference between the darkness and the light.

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God, of course, is represented in the light. But here, to bring out light, light is juxtaposed against darkness.

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David is facing heavy trials. People seek his life. He is in exile of sorts,

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I believe. He is prevented from worshiping in the house of the Lord. He goes through a season, a very hard season, where he can't even enter into the place of the tabernacle to worship.

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The darkness of his circumstances has descended upon him, causing him to reflect upon his source of light and life.

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This is the first time in the scriptures that the Lord is characterized as light.

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We know that he is the creator of light, that light comes from him. But we learn here that the source of light and life is the

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Lord himself. Of course, this language brings to mind the opening verses of John 1.

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I'm not going to have you turn there. I'm going to remind you of a couple of things. Do you remember what it says in John 1, 4?

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In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

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And the light shines in the darkness. The glorious revelation of the person of Jesus Christ coming to Israel, the

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Messiah, the long -awaited, anticipated Messiah has come, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

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Verse 7, referring to John the Baptist. This man, John the Baptist, came for a witness to do what?

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To bear witness of that light, to bear witness of the Lord Jesus Christ, that all through him might believe.

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Verse 8, he was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light.

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That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

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The light of life, both physical and spiritual, emanates from the person of Jesus Christ.

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He says of himself in John 8, 12, I am the light of the world.

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He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.

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The long -anticipated arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, is the bright dawning of the new age.

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In our text, David confidently declares that the Lord is his light and salvation.

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Against the dark backdrop of his circumstances, David places his confidence in the

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Lord for salvation. That word salvation, for us modern evangelicals, we always think of final salvation, justification.

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But this incorporates many things. David saw the

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Lord as a source, not only of his eternal salvation, but the

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Savior out of the hardship of his present circumstances. David follows this very unique and wonderful description, this language, this declaration, with a question.

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If this be true, if the Lord is your light and your salvation, whom shall you fear?

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The right answer is, I should fear no things, no one, because of Christ.

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If he is my light, if he is my salvation, I have no cause for fear, at least intellectually, theoretically.

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I have no cause for fear. The Lord is the strength of my life.

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His circumstances warrant fear. His faith tells him to put his trust in the

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Lord. The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall

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I be afraid? This is a very powerful, poetical language in Hebrew. The repetition of the similar question drives home this idea, this contrast.

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These things are true. It makes this question, should I be afraid? And the answer is, rhetorically, no,

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I should not be afraid. The Lord is the strength of my life. If the

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Lord is the strength of your life, should you be afraid? The answer is no. What is compelling about this language is a reality that all

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Christians are acquainted with. We truly believe

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God will deliver us from every trouble, as he has so powerfully on the cross delivered us from sin and death.

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But the trials press us to preach again to ourselves. I know

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I shouldn't fear, but these circumstances make me fear. Is that true for you?

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It seems to be true for everyone. It's interesting, isn't it? We know it works out, even if I'm martyred.

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We know that it works out because I will be with the Lord. But the prospect of the trial and the suffering, that's hard.

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We have to acknowledge that. David is faced with real circumstances.

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He has real confidence in the Lord. But he has this question.

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And this question is sincere and honest in one respect because these trials are very hard.

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You may be going through a very difficult trial today, or someone you love may be. There's a real sense of legitimate fear and doubt when we're faced with hard things.

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This is something that we're all acquainted with. The trials press us to preach again to ourselves.

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The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life.

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Of whom shall I be afraid? If you consider verse 2, David has confidence in part because he has been delivered by God previously.

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One of the things I tell people in my pastoral care ministry is when they're coming to me with some heavy burden in their life and things seem so impossible to them,

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I remind them that they have faced trials in the past and here today they stand.

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Last year at this time you had worries and cares and concerns that weighed you down and burdened you immensely.

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I don't know what they are or what they were, but the Lord delivered you out of them.

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It's interesting, isn't it? The pattern of our lives is the Lord has preserved us.

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Here we are to this day. Who am I that the Lord has brought us this far? He's preserved us.

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But in the moment, in the crisis, in the season, isn't it a reality to doubt and to question?

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This is a normal human response. Even a faithful, strong, believing Christian like you sometimes were riddled with doubt.

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David had confidence. Verse 2, past tense, it says,

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When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, some very strong language, isn't it?

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They sought David's complete destruction. What did

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God do? God caused his enemies and his foes to stumble and to fall.

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His past deliverances, and this should be true for you today, is this true for you? Are you facing something that seems very hard?

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Or have you already forgotten all the things that the Lord has made you to pass through, to get through to the other side?

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The present crisis always lies to us. It says, The Lord's not going to hear my cry.

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He delivered me in the past. This one's too big. This one's too hard. He's not going to deliver me.

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This is a natural Christian response. The Lord has delivered you from many trials.

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Why are you so wracked with fear? It's very easy to forget how he has delivered us from all of our troubles.

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Consider verse 3. Can you imagine an army encamping around you, seeking your life?

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You're running around and hiding in caves. You're God's anointed man, and these people want to kill you.

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You have these two conflicting ideas. I'm God's man. I'm his anointed. I'm to be king.

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I might not survive the onslaught of the armies. How do

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I reconcile these things? He goes back to this tried method.

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Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.

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Though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident.

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David's confidence. That's number one. Let's consider point two,

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David's desire. This confidence in God's provision and protection and preservation causes and really is the backbone of David's greatness.

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Look at verse 4. This is why David is one of the greatest men who ever lived.

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This is why you men, women, and children of ascension should pursue greatness like David.

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I want all of you to be great in the kingdom of God. Consider David's desire.

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This is what makes David a man after God's own heart. It says,

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As one thing I have desired of the Lord, that will

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I seek. That I may dwell in the house of the

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Lord all the days of my life. To behold the beauty of the

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Lord and to inquire in his temple. Worship is the defining characteristic of David's life.

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David is the anointed of God, the little shepherd boy who kills Goliath because of his worshiping heart for God.

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God gave him that heart of worship. It is his greatest strength.

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It's not his military ability. The reason he's a great leader of armies and all of his exploits is because first and foremost, he is preeminently the worshiper of our

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God. That's what you and I ought to be.

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This weekend was rivalry weekend in the college football world.

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And as fun as that is, think about how much zeal people have for the emptiness and hollowness of the sport that I love in comparison to God.

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They are more eager and more zealous for their football team to win than they are to give

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God the glory. You and I need to be people who our orientation, our life, the pattern of our life, the daily liturgy of our life is one of worship and adoration and service of our great

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God. If we do that, we will find the greatest of satisfaction and eternal joy.

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So I want to ask you, what is the burning compulsion of your life? Is it

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YouTube videos? Is it even your business ideas?

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Is it even your desire to cultivate a Christian family, a marriage and family?

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Today, I want you to commit with the Lord's help that the direction of your life is pointed to our

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God. That you would lop off all of those things in your life that hold your attention, your interest, that draw you away from our

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God. We are in a vicious war, a vicious battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil.

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And there are things negatively we have to do to cut things off. We have to excise things and mortify things in our lives.

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But the reality is we positively have to be worshipers of God.

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Can you say with David, when you read those words, is that true for you as it is for David?

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That would be a good application of the scripture. David is saying something very powerful, very meaningful, very truthful about God.

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I desire that I will seek, I may dwell in the house of the

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Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord.

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And you see it's not static. The last part of verse 4, and to inquire in his temple, is this the kind of life that you and I and our children and this church should aspire to?

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If we were this kind of worshiping people, Seminole County, Volusia County, Orange County, they would never be the same.

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Look how few of number we are today. If this were true of us, what kind of witness would that be to the world?

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Those people, their compulsion, their essence is they are worshipers of the one true

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God. Is this your desire?

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The answer is no. Honestly, I think you should repent. And I think today you should ask the

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Lord to give you the better desire, the desire that David had. You have to do something, but you call upon him and ask him to do something.

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That he would grant you this very holy desire. That you would be a worshiper like David.

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Well, that's point 2. Look at verse 5. We get to the third little vignette in this study.

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David anticipates deliverance. Look at verse 5.

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It says, For the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion.

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In the secret place of his tabernacle, he shall hide me. David is running to the mighty fortress, which is our

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God. He's running to the place, the presence of God, inside the wall of fire from Zechariah.

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He wants to be there. You and I should be fleeing and running to that presence of God that we would be hid in his pavilion, in the secret place of his tabernacle.

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In the time of trouble, David says, he's going to hide me. He's going to hide me.

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He's going to establish me high upon the rock. David here waits expectantly for God's deliverance.

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And this is what we should be doing in Advent. We should be waiting for God's deliverance.

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He came after all in the flesh to save us. He will come again to vindicate us.

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So there's something that's already happened. But there are things that have not yet happened. David in verse five anticipates deliverance.

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And when he considers these things, we get to point four in David's doxology in verse six.

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And now my head shall be lifted up above mine enemies all around me. David's doxology.

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I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tabernacle. I imagine him exclaiming,

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Oh, Lord, you are my joy. Here is the joy that only comes from you.

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I cannot help but to praise you and bring the joy back to you. I will sing to you.

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I will sing praises to the Lord. He says, David is confident in the

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Lord's salvation. His desires are rightly ordered.

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He knows that God is going to deliver him. He properly responds to all these things with worship and praise.

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Everything seems to be rightly ordered. This psalm has a major shift.

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I don't know if you notice it when you're reading it. It's a stark difference. What happens between verse six and verse seven.

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It's such an abrupt change that commentators have erroneously speculated that this should be two different songs.

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David is soaring. He's got confidence in the

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Lord. He's praising the Lord. He's his desires are rightly ordered.

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He knows that God is his hiding place in his refuge. He knows all these things.

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He knows that his head is going to be lifted up above his enemies. He's responding with joy in the tabernacle.

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He's singing wholeheartedly to the Lord. But the reality and the hardness of his circumstances causes him to lament.

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Let's look at verse seven. In this case, the lament is a cry.

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A crying out to God. We think of laments typically in relation to mourning and things like that.

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But at its very heart, the lament is a crying out to God.

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It's a crying out of the soul to God. David has already experienced

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God's deliverance. He's already experienced the joys of worship.

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And dwelling in his presence, he's experienced these things. You and I have experienced these things.

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But he's not yet been delivered from his present trouble. Jesus has come in the flesh and dwelt among us.

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He has won the decisive victory over sin and death. We expect a resurrection, a sinless glorified body.

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But now we grapple with an old man who tugs at our new man. Lament is the place between a current and even temporal hopelessness and a coming hope.

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Lament anticipates the new creation but acknowledges the pain and travail of now.

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We all believe in the ultimate and absolute victory of Jesus Christ. But our eyes scan the horizon, we look at our own lives, and our hearts cry out,

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Oh Lord, how long God has made an accommodation for us.

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He has given us the lament to harness our fears with faith.

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David, I believe, is crying out to God in lament. Look at the exclamation.

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He's experienced all these things. He has all this confidence. And he exclaims,

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Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice. God has given us the biblical example and language of lament in order for us to faithfully express our pain.

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In order to steadfastly endure our sufferings.

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I don't know if you know this, but a real, intimate, beautiful, blessed marriage deals with hard things and sorrows and sadnesses.

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It's not all just fun all the time. And I think that we have a pseudo -optimism in the

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Christian world. We have this blanket statement where we say everything's going to be okay.

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The pagans say that. The New Age people say that. It's not distinctively

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Christian to say everything's going to work out in the end. There's another part of our relationship in Christ that we have to explore and develop more fully, and that's our grief and our sorrows and our lament.

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One author has said, when the days are hard, when grief weighs as much as gravity, when we can't live any minute longer with the pain, when we're angrier and more disillusioned than we ever thought possible, when we can't find the right words for our difficult emotions, when our gnawing questions become too much to handle, my prayer is that the

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Holy Spirit will draw us back time and time again to lament and ultimately into His presence.

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You see, lamentation is honest. Instead of suppressing the truth in a superficial optimism that says, by default, everything will be alright, we should have a hope grounded in reality.

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Things are very hard. I must cry out to the

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Lord. I wonder if the proliferation of mental illness, even in the church, in depression and anxiety and very real things, there's dietary factors, all kinds of factors probably.

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I wonder, do we ever cry out to God in lament?

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Or do we hold it to ourselves? Do we speak into the void of nothingness?

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We have to have a hope grounded in reality. Things are very hard. I must cry out to the

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Lord. In Zechariah, we see the restoration after a season of lament.

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There were people, no doubt aged people, who for 70 years, as faithful ones, cried out to the

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Lord. In His time, He delivered them. How long did

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Anna and Simeon cry out to God for the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ? Day and night in the temple waiting for Him to arrive.

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A microcosm, a small picture of the history of Israel waiting for the Messiah to come.

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How long is the travail of labor from Genesis 3 to Luke 2?

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It's a lot of waiting. The redemptive historical witness in our own experience tells us that we must cry out to the

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Lord. He wants to hear our cries. We have to be careful because we're warned, even from this pulpit, not to be complainers.

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We shouldn't be whiners and complainers. But when our hearts are stricken with grief and fear, we cry out to the

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Lord. O Lord, help me in this time. David, the great man of faith, the army is knocking on the door.

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They want to kill me and chop me into pieces and feed me to the dogs. Lord, he cries from his heart.

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He laments, help me, rescue me, come to my aid, deliver me. It's amazing to me that he wants to hear our cries.

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There are very few people who want to hear all of your problems. There's a lot of people you have to put on a happy face to.

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You can't complain about your hardship with them. Our God calls the entirety of us, our person, to him.

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Intimate, one flesh union says, I want everything. I want your fears. I want your grief.

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I want all of it. Bring it to me. Cry out to me.

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Hear, O Lord, when I cry out with my voice. Have mercy also upon me and answer me.

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This is an incredible shift for David. Will you have mercy on me?

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Will you answer me when I cry? O Lord, when you said, seek my face, my heart said to you, your face,

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O Lord, I will seek. What does it say next? Do not hide your face from me.

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It feels that way sometimes. We know that God has not hidden his face in any ultimate sense, but our trials persist.

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The travail of labor extends. There's no resolution to the matter.

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It goes on and it goes on. Lord, I am seeking your face.

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Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger.

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You have been my help. Do not leave me nor forsake me.

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O God of my salvation. It's a tremendous shift in his thinking and his language.

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In this song. But lament is not just complaining.

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Lament leads us back to the Lord. And hope. Lamentation is honest.

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Our trials lead us to cry out to the God of our salvation. It calls to remembrance his promises.

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You said to me, you are the God of my salvation. Do not leave us or forsake us,

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O God. We should approach our God with that holy boldness. You said,

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O Lord, these are your promises. That's what David did. You said you were going to sanctify me.

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O Lord, I'm not happy with the condition of my sanctification. O Lord, you promised to complete that work that you started in me.

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O Lord, finish that work. That's how we should cry out to God.

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With honesty. With real emotion. The sincerity of our hearts.

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We should cry out to God. In this way. He says, verse 10, even if my father and mother forsake me, the

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Lord will take care of me. This also speaks to the comprehensive love

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God has for us. He wants all of us. It's shocking to the senses, but he loves the entirety of us.

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Even our frailty. Our weakness. And small faith. The author

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I cited above also said God sings a louder song than suffering ever could.

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A song of resurrection, renewal, restoration, and recreation.

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Before there was a resurrection of Christ, there was a garden of Gethsemane. And there was blood coming out of his sweat glands.

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And there was a cross. There was lamenting and wailing and pain and hardship and suffering.

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This is all part of the Christian life. God, however, sings a louder song than suffering ever could.

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A song of resurrection, renewal, restoration, and recreation. Because of the one flesh union we have with Christ, we can express the full spectrum of our experience to him.

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He hears our cries. He is a God who is worthy of our joyful adoration and thanksgiving.

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But he's also worthy to receive all of us. Our war with sin.

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Our suffering. And our sadness. Like David, we should freely come to him with our fears and ask him to teach us and correct us.

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Not every emotion we feel and express is based on facts or faith. So in our crying lament, we ask him to instruct us.

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Look at verse 11. It says, Teach me your way, O Lord. Lead me in a smooth path because of my enemies.

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Lord, time and again, we as a people, all of us individually and personally, have failed you.

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When will your salvation come? When will your deliverance come?

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When the believer cries out for deliverance and help, it is an act of faith, not unbelief.

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Never crying out to God in your distress is an act of unbelief.

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He says again, Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries. Verse 12.

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David, the man of confidence, the man of worship, and also the man of reality.

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His eyes, he can see the danger on the horizon. The adversaries are beating on the door.

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This is the real world, real life experience of David. And these kinds of things are the real world, real life experience that you will encounter.

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False witnesses have risen against me. Those that breathe out violence.

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I fear that you will hand me over to my enemies. David laments in hope and it leads him back to confidence.

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Look at verse 13. It said, I would have lost heart. This is point six.

01:23:58

David's belief. I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the

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Lord in the land of the living. He starts off with this great confidence, assurance, worship, joy, singing

01:24:14

God's praises. And he is plunged into lamentation. In eyes of faith, he gazes upon the

01:24:25

Lord. And has confidence. He believes. I would have lost heart unless I believed.

01:24:39

When we acknowledge our grief and our sorrow, when we biblically, scripturally lament, we learn a deeper form of praise and thanksgiving.

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The kind of praise and thanksgiving that only can come on the other side of suffering.

01:25:04

It's deeper. It's better. This is a real, living kind of faith that touches every part of our being.

01:25:17

This isn't a superficial, external faith. When someone asks you, how are you doing?

01:25:23

You say, no matter what, I'm doing pretty good. I'm okay. I'm all right. We approach

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God in our prayer life like that. He knows our hearts. We say, we offer up our supplications, wrote memorization.

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We say the same words over and over again. Maybe we should cry out to God with lamentation.

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We don't have a superficial faith. We have a deep and abiding, profound faith.

01:26:01

The scars of our lives testify to our healing. You were cut and he stitched you up.

01:26:11

You're healed. Scar remains. Finally, consider

01:26:19

David's exhortation. He has spoken to the

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Lord. He has spoken out of the travail, the lamentation of his own heart.

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He speaks kind of this professionist declaration of faith in verse 13. But then he turns,

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I think, to himself in one sense, but he also turns to the audience, to all the redeemed people of God.

01:26:52

He says, wait on the Lord. Be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart.

01:27:00

He says, wait, I say, on the Lord. This idea of waiting is not passive.

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All of us think of waiting as sitting in a waiting room or at the DMV or waiting for a reservation.

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It's just idle, empty time. To wait on the

01:27:23

Lord biblically is not a mindless let go and let God. The waiting is a confident expectancy that the

01:27:31

Lord will act with his glory in our good as its end.

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400 years of revelatory silence between the two covenants.

01:27:51

433 years of Egyptian slavery. The testimony of the people of God is parrhesia,

01:28:03

Advent, coming. The Lord is going to do it someday. The Lord is going to return in final victory one day.

01:28:17

The Lord has come in the flesh to satisfy all the demands of the law.

01:28:23

He's already accomplishment. He's gone to the cross to atone for my sin. He has risen from the dead.

01:28:29

He's ascended to the right hand of God. He is reigning and ruling over all things. But we travail today in our sin and the wicked prosper and we cry out,

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How long, O Lord? The waiting is not passive.

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The waiting is a confident expectancy that the Lord will act. David's waiting exhortation is built on the

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Lord is my light and my salvation. We wait on the Lord by seeking his face and dwelling in his presence.

01:29:08

We wait by longing to commune with him in worship and study and meditation of the word and prayer, the sacraments, all the things we do.

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We're not waiting passively. We're waiting actively, knowing the

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Lord is going to accomplish these things. In David's lament, he prayed, staring at the trial and suffering.

01:29:33

Then he lifted his gaze to the Lord in hope. This waiting is fueled by God's character and promises.

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He will not leave us or forsake us. Waiting on the

01:29:49

Lord is the asking anything in accordance with his will, with confidence that he hears us.

01:29:55

First John five waiting is most famously articulated in Isaiah 40 31.

01:30:01

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles.

01:30:08

They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Psalm 40 very powerfully says,

01:30:17

I waited patiently for the Lord. And he inclined to me and heard my cry.

01:30:27

He also brought me out of a horrible pit, out of a miry clay and set my feet upon a rock.

01:30:35

And established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth.

01:30:43

Praise to our God. Many are going to see it in fear and put their trust in the

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Lord. David felt.

01:30:56

Certainly you have felt that the Lord may not see or hear your cry.

01:31:06

He doesn't seem to be acting. He doesn't seem to answer

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David's prayer or your prayer. But his knowledge of God and your knowledge of God convince you otherwise.

01:31:21

We can wait on the Lord with expectancy. He will do as he promised.

01:31:29

He will deliver us. He is always working the good Romans eight.

01:31:36

By steadfastly persevering with this gift of courage, we trust actively seeking his face, dwelling in his presence.

01:31:46

And in all this confidently and expectantly waiting upon the

01:31:51

Lord. And we know he hears us. We know that our cries don't fall on deaf ears.

01:32:06

Brethren. You and I need to get down to the. Dark and dirty place of lament.

01:32:17

We need to be honest with God about our fear. This fear is based.

01:32:26

And this. Lament is based not in fear, but in faith.

01:32:32

We have real fears, but our eyes of faith, our mind of faith overshadows it a bit.

01:32:38

But we're still feeling it. The disciples scatter after the cross.

01:32:48

We thought this was going to be the one. The Messiah. Following Jesus means go to the cross.

01:32:57

I have to reconsider because I didn't think they'd be able to kill him. He's the Messiah. He's to be the king.

01:33:07

So in the season of feasting. I think we should weep and mourn and wail and fast for our sin.

01:33:19

For unbelief for the lost and dying world. And at the end of it all.

01:33:26

We're going to find. That the Lord is our light and our salvation. We have nothing to fear.

01:33:34

The Lord is the strength of our life. The wicked may come against us.

01:33:40

But they're going to stumble and fall. The army may encamp around me, but my heart will not fear.

01:33:48

I will be confident in the deliverance of the Lord. The defining characteristic of my life is going to be that I would dwell in the house of the

01:33:58

Lord all the days of my life. To behold his beauty. To inquire in his temple, knowing that in the time of trouble, he's going to hide me in his pavilion.

01:34:08

In the secret place of his tabernacle. He's going to establish my feet upon the rock.

01:34:16

My head's going to be lifted up above mine enemies. Therefore, I'm going to come into his presence with Thanksgiving and sacrifices and joy.

01:34:24

I'm going to sing with my whole heart praises to the Lord.

01:34:32

Jesus has come. Jesus is coming again.

01:34:39

Ascension. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage.

01:34:46

He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the

01:34:52

Lord. Please pray with me. Lord, we pray that you would make us more honest.

01:35:10

That we wouldn't have a faux piety. That we'd have a sincere and earnest.

01:35:16

Living full or peaks and valleys, mountaintops and caves.

01:35:23

Bottom of the sea. Stars in the heavens. Kind of faith. Oh, Lord. Cause us to see the whole breadth and length and depth of life.

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Belongs to you. Thank you, oh, Lord, for opening this channel of communication with you.

01:35:41

That is. Lament. Lord, I pray that we would be a lamenting people.

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Because we have great expectancy and hope. We ask these things in Jesus name.

01:36:02

Let's continue our worship through the presentation of tithes and offerings. Please stand and let's pray together.

01:36:38

Oh, Lord, we thank you for this beautiful life that you've given us. A life that has the highest of joys.

01:36:49

And it has very hard things. Oh, Lord, I pray that we would be instructed by our trials.

01:36:58

That we would be divested of our interest in the world. That we would see in you,

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Lord Jesus, that you are our all in all. That we have everything we could ever want or need in you.

01:37:12

And the cry of our hearts would be to seek your face and your help and your aid.

01:37:18

And your comfort and your hope. Oh, Lord, you've given us work to do.

01:37:24

And we thank you for the time, talent and treasure that we have been made stewards of.

01:37:29

And we pray that these offerings would be used for the advance of your kingdom. And the faithful proclamation of your gospel.

01:37:37

And discipleship of the nation. We ask this in Jesus name. Let's give

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God the glory in the singing of the Gloria Patri. Let us give thanks to the

01:38:45

Lord. It is good and right so to you. It is right and a good and joyful thing that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to you, oh holy

01:38:56

Lord. Father almighty, everlasting God. Because you sent your beloved son to redeem us from sin and death.

01:39:05

And to make us heirs in him of everlasting life. That when he shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world.

01:39:14

We may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing. Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven.

01:39:25

We praise and magnify your glorious name. Evermore praising you and singing.

01:41:28

Creatures with creaturely tendencies. We ask that our senses both physically and spiritually be fully aroused.

01:41:40

We discern the body and blood of Christ crucified for us.

01:41:48

We thank you for the bread that we can taste. That communicates to us the body of Christ.

01:41:59

We thank you for the wine and its bitter sweetness that communicates to us the blood of Christ shed for us.

01:42:10

Oh Lord we ask that these ordinary creaturely things of bread and wine.

01:42:17

That you'd be pleased sacramentally in the power of your spirit. To communicate to us life and salvation in the person and sacrifice of Christ.

01:42:31

We ask these things in Jesus name. Our Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed.

01:42:41

Took bread and broke it and gave it to his disciples saying.

01:42:47

Take eat this is my body. Likewise he took the cup after supper saying.

01:42:55

This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Drink from it all of you. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup.

01:43:03

You proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Therefore we proclaim the faith.

01:43:10

Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.

01:43:16

Let's approach the table now with great humility and expectancy.

01:43:23

We do not presume to come to this your table. Oh merciful

01:43:28

Lord. Trusting in our own righteousness. But in your manifold and great mercies.

01:43:35

We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table.

01:43:40

But you are the same Lord who always shows mercy. Grant us therefore gracious Lord.

01:43:47

So to eat the flesh of your dear son Jesus Christ. And to drink of his blood.

01:43:54

That our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body. And our souls wash through his most precious blood.

01:44:01

That we may evermore dwell in him and he in us. Christ our

01:44:09

Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore let's keep the feasts.

01:44:15

The gifts of God for the people of God. Thanks be to the Lord. Now in them they are salted hot.

01:46:22

Alleluia. Many mercies and graces of this day.

01:54:47

Let's make this commitment together. Almighty and everliving God. We thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food.

01:54:57

Of the most precious body and blood of your Son. Our Savior Jesus Christ.

01:55:03

And for assuring us in these holy mysteries. That we are living members of the body of your

01:55:09

Son. And heirs of your eternal kingdom. And O Lord grant us this other benefit.

01:55:16

That you will never allow us to forget these things. But having them imprinted on our hearts.

01:55:23

May we grow and increase daily. In the faith which is at work in every good deed.

01:55:28

And now Father send us out to do the work you have given us to do. To love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our

01:55:37

Lord. To him, to you and to the Holy Spirit. The honor and glory now and forever.

01:55:45

Amen. Please stand. Be gracious to you.

01:56:35

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you. And grant you peace.