Advent Week 2 - Faith

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Wind, I cried to God for help. He heard my voice. The tainted earth that rocked and reeled. The heavens bowed, the mountains kneeled. The thunderous voice of God, my covering. I will not be afraid for my hope is in his name. Who is the rock but our God whose blood has sealed our freedom? Jesus our savior, your defender Redeemer, safer place. Equip my hands and feet with strength, so I advance with confidence in Christ. His precious truth delivers me from lies and wage and war in me. Your victory is mine for all my days. I will not be afraid, for my hope is in his name. Who is a rock but our God whose blood has sealed our freedom? Jesus our savior, Defender Redeemer. You kneel down to raise me up. You my lord, you my God, you rescue me with endless love. Oh my Lord, oh my God. Who is the rock but how? God whose blood has sealed our freedom. Jesus our savior, defender Redeemer. [00:03:29] Speaker B: Good morning, Emmanuel Fellowship Church. What a joy to be together today. I am so glad you guys are here to worship with us today. Welcome. Whether you're worshiping in person. Hi. If you're joining us online, I know we have some sickness going on, all those sorts of things. Hey, we love you guys. We miss you. We're glad you're joining us in the way that you are able to. Guys, I don't know if you noticed walking in the building today, but we're past Thanksgiving, so it's officially Christmas time and we are into the season of advent, where we set aside time as the church to consider the doctrine of the incarnation, that we worship a God who doesn't distance himself from us, who doesn't hold himself up away, but steps down into the muck and the mire of this cursed and broken world to be with us and to make a way for us from death to life. Amen. Each week this month, we're going to take time to work our way through the traditional christian advent wreath where we focus on a different theme each week and consider the amazing gift that is the incarnation of Jesus, that God made himself man. Today, the first Sunday of advent, we consider the idea, the gospel idea of hope. So I want to encourage you guys, regardless of what brought you into this space today, regardless of where your soul's at today, whether you're in a place of deep and abiding joy, whether you are at the end of your rope, whether you're anywhere in between, I want to invite you today to take a moment to reflect on the hope of the gospel. And so I want to call us into worship today with this word from the first letter of the apostle Peter. It says this, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy, he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Beloved, the gospel gives us hope. Let's sing about that gospel today. Amen. [00:05:45] Speaker A: The squalor of a borrowed stable by the spirit and a virgin's face to the anguish and the shame of scandal came the savior of the human race what the skies were filled with the praise of heaven shepherds, listen as the angels tell of the gift of God come down to men at the dawning of Emmanuel king of heaven now the friend of sinners humble servant in the father's hands filled with power and the holy spirit filled with mercy for the broken man yes, he walked my road and he felt my pain joys and sorrows that I know so well yet his righteous step give me hope again I will follow my Emmanuel's betrayal he was lifted on a cruel cross he was punished for world's transgressions he was suffering to save the lost he fights for breath he fights for me losing sinners from the claims of hell and with a shout our souls are free death defeated by Emmanuel standing in the place of honor crown with glory on the highest throne interceding for his own beloved till his father calls you bring them home then the skies will part as the trumpet sounds hope of heaven or the fear of hell but the bride will run to her lover's arms giving glory to Emmanuel but the bride will run to her lover's arms giving glory to Immanuel ready your heart, child the lion lamb is coming the lion lamb is coming soften your heart bright soften your heart bright the wedding days coming the wedding days coming. [00:09:17] Speaker C: When we. [00:09:18] Speaker A: See him we shall be made like him when we see him we shall be made like him when we see him we shall be made like him whoa. Lift up your eyes, child lift up your eyes, child the lion lamb is coming lion lamb is coming he's gonna make it right, child he's gonna make it right, child justice so it's coming justice so it's coming yeah when we see him we shall be made like him as we see the end of death and dying oh, bow it's going to make it right, child it's going to make it right, child it's going to make it right, child it's going to make it right, child it's gonna make it right, child it's gonna make it right, child. He's gonna make it right, child. [00:11:51] Speaker D: Entered the world. From the moment that our evil choices broke our relationship with God, humanity has struggled to find meaning and purpose. We look around ourselves every day at the crooked and bent lifestyles of violence, greed and hatred that are so prevalent in our world. And it is difficult to figure out what can be done about any of it. Even King Solomon, one of the wisest and wealthiest people in history, said it like this. I've seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile. A pursuit of the wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened. What is lacking cannot be counted. [00:12:31] Speaker E: Futility pursuing the wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened. What has been ruined cannot be set right. So what are we to do if everything is hopeless? How do we spend our pointless lives? The Israelites tried to follow the law to keep their covenant with God. Because of their sin, they were unable to, and eventually God sent them into exile, just as he promised he would. Many good and moral people throughout history have tried to do the right thing. Yet Solomon's stark observation has always remained true. Sin has made us crooked, and what is crooked cannot be straightened. [00:13:11] Speaker D: Yet throughout history, in spite of our sin and our refusal to return to relationship with him, God's constant promise has always been that he would not leave us hopeless. He promised that he would step in, he would make straight what was crooked. He would restore meaning and life to his people. Several thousand years ago, a young woman named Mary was in desperate circumstances. Her nation was enslaved, her people starving under the oppression of Rome. For centuries, her people had cried out for salvation, for restoration, for hope. Yet God had not yet fulfilled his promise. But to this young woman, hope finally came. An angel of God delivered the most thrilling news in the history of the world. Salvation had come through a baby, one that she herself would carry and raise. Hear now the promises of God, words spoken long before the first coming of our savior, Jesus Christ. Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight. I will put my spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not argue or shout, and no one will hear his voice in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick until he has led justice to victory. The nations will put their hope in his name. [00:14:37] Speaker E: Church. Jesus Christ is the hope of the world. He came to do the impossible and set the crooked straight, to defeat sin and death, to eternally take his place as the true king and savior. Of the world. Even now we await his return with hope for the completion of this amazing gospel story. [00:15:46] Speaker A: Exile here until the son of God appear. Rejoice, Rejoice Emmanuel shall come to the all peoples in one heart and mind bit and destrife and quarrel cease and fill the whole world with heaven's peace rejoice, rejoice Emmanuel shall come to the O Israel. [00:18:23] Speaker C: Thank you. [00:18:25] Speaker F: Today's missional prayer is for the work and ministry that's being done at the West County Care center in Baldwin. There are about 50 residents there and 15 or 20 staff that regularly interact with the team that goes every other week. So let's pray for that work and the special people that we minister to. Lord, we are grateful for the ministry of reconciliation that you have given to us, that we can bring good news to the people who have not heard it, who are oppressed and struggling. Lord, we pray for the people at West County Care center. These dear ones struggle physically and emotionally and spiritually. Aging is a difficult thing, and they have cares and concerns that the gospel speaks to. So, Lord, as the team goes and ministers, shares the gospel, opens the word, sings the songs of worship and praise that you ought to have given to you. Our prayer here is that this ministry would reap spiritual fruit. Lord, we pray for those who are lonely, that they would find companionship and comfort through the spirit of God and through the word of God. We pray for those who are struggling physically, that they would find encouragement and strength. Pray for those, particularly who do not know you, that they would hear the gospel and respond to it. Lord, bless that work as your gospel goes forth. Help us minister to the struggling and the weak and the lonely. We were those people at one time, Lord, and we remember that. Help us to take the grace that you've given to us and offer it to the people that need it most. We ask that you would bless it in the name of Christ and for his sake. [00:20:15] Speaker B: Amen. [00:20:39] Speaker C: In regards to that ministry, if you think at all that you would enjoy being on mission to a bunch of seniors, we could use your help. So talk to me or Bruce or Greg Yeager and would love to have you join us. Doesn't the church look awesome with all the Christmas decorations? I want to give special thanks to Michelle Strickland and Diane Cipriano and Linda Kilgore, who were up here yesterday decorating. So give them a hand. Well, Sam said this is the first Sunday of the Advent season and the focus is on hope. It's amazing to me that we're approaching Christmas and the end of another year. And I've always loved the idea of Christmas and what it represents. God came into our world in human flesh, born as a baby to a virgin mother, all for the purpose of saving us from our sin. Christmas is a season that is supposed to bring with it feelings of great joy, opportunities for great family time, awesome food and fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ, and of course, a few gifts. We all like to have little gifts, don't we? Often there's a great buildup in anticipation. There's a lot of preparation and activity that goes into the season. And with it comes hopes and longings that this year Christmas is going to be a wonderful event that we'll always remember and cherish. And yet, for too many people, including christians, as Christmas approaches, instead of hope and joy, feelings of stress, anxiety and dread surface. Sometimes it's just the pressure and stress we feel trying to make everything perfect. And for weeks we busy ourselves to the point of exhaustion. Maybe it's the first Christmas without loved ones who are no longer with us and it has left a hole in our heart. Maybe it's a gathering of family with members that are estranged and are living with unresolved conflict, differences that seem impossible to resolve, our significant hurt and pain that continues to linger from the past. Maybe it's the same old, same old where you gather once again with your extended family, and most of them aren't christian and have no desire to focus on the meaning of Christmas. It's just another celebration where you go home at the end of the day, unfulfilled because there was no heart to heart connection involving Christ. And even if none of those things that I just mentioned are issues for you and your family, Christmas never magically eliminates the stresses, pressures, troubles, trials and difficulties that will continue to be ours December 26. Unfortunately for some, holidays can add to or compound our sense of loss, stress, pressure, loneliness and hopelessness. And this is why Christmas rarely lives up to the billing and the hype. Maybe, just maybe, it was never supposed to. Maybe our Christmases find us placing our hopes on things and circumstances and people other than Christ. I mean, the reason for the season is Jesus, right? This morning we're going to go deep into psalm 42, and it was written by a man who was in a season of spiritual dryness, disillusionment and depression. And I think that we will see that he was losing hope. At first glance, this may seem like a down or a strange way to kick off the advent season. But I want you to hang in there with me. We're going to uncover several wonderful truths to hold on to. That can lift us up out of a spiritual funk. A pit that we all have at one time find ourselves in. So turn in your bible to psalm 42. And as you do that, I want to go ahead and pray. Father, I come before you this morning. And I just proclaim that it's always an honor to come up and share your word with others. Things that you've laid on my heart. And I pray that you'd help me to do it in the power of your spirit. With your wisdom and your guidance. And that something meaningful would impact people's hearts and lives today, in this season. That would point them to you. And you are the reason for their hope. We ask that in Jesus name. Amen. So how many people here this morning have ever had or been in a spiritual funk? Felt spiritually dry, disillusioned or discouraged? Good. Let's see what psalm 42 has to say about it. We're going to read verses one through eleven. As the deer longs for flowing streams so I long for you, God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night while all day long people say to me, where is your God? I remember this as I pour out my heart. How I walked with many. Leading the festive possession to the house of God with joyful and thankful shouts. Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God for I will still praise him. My savior and my God. I am deeply depressed. Therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and the peaks of hermon from Mount Miser deep calls the deep in the roar of your waterfalls all your breakers and your billows have swept over me the Lord will send his faithful love by day his song will be with me in the night a prayer to the God of my life. I will say to God, my rock, why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about in sorrow? Because of the enemy's oppression? My adversaries taunt me as if crushing my bones. While all day long they say to me, where is your God? Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God for I will still praise him, my savior and my God. Psalm 42 was written by a man. But it doesn't reveal by whom. But as long as it is part of our bible. We believe that it is God's word. It's his inspired word. It has been preserved through the generations by God. And this psalm is in our bibles by God's design. He must have a purpose for it being there. I believe the words of psalm 42 reveal to us the heart of God and the wisdom of God. He knows our condition. He knows how difficult life can be. He knows we'll struggle at times with spiritual dryness, drought and depression. And the words of psalm 42 to me reveal to us that he cares and wants to help us escape the pit that we may find ourselves in today. Ultimately, to find our hope in him once again, the heading of the psalm states for the choir director a maskel of the sons of Korah and the sons of Korra were a group of priests who were charged with the ministry of singing in two chronicles 2019, it says, the Korites stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. They, in essence, were worship leaders. The heading reveals that this psalm was probably used for public worship and was sung by God's people in the temple. The psalms are most often songs or poems, and John Piper writes, they are written to awaken and express and shape the emotional life of God's people. Poetry and singing exist because God made us with emotions, not just thoughts. Our emotions are massively important. The second thing to notice in the heading is that the psalm is called a maskel. It's not absolutely clear what the word means because it has no equivalent word in the English and is why most Bible translations do not translate it. It comes from the hebrew verb that means to make someone wise, to instruct. In respect to the psalm, it may mean a song that instructs or a song that is wisely crafted. Psalms are meant to be songs that are sung in worship and are to provide God's followers with instruction. They're intended to shape what the mind thinks and what the heart feels, and it's really no different for the songs that we sing on Sunday morning. We should want the worship songs we sing to stir our emotions, not because of the style of the melody, but because of the truths that are revealed about our God through the song's lyrics. That he is glorious, that he is great and he's good, that he's holy and wise, and he's a God of grace and mercy. He's sovereign in power and he's infinite and unconditional in love, as revealed through the plan of his redemption. Worship song should feed our intellect with the knowledge of God and should move our emotions to awe and wonder and devotion through praise, worship and thanksgiving. Worship is not about us and what we get out of it. It's about God and what we give him in devotion and our love in return for who he is and all that he's done for us. In regard to the psalmist life and what he's experiencing, I want to look at three things. What is the psalmist condition? What are the factors, the causes that contribute to his condition? And what is the cure? What can he apply to his life to positively change the unwanted conditions of his life? And I feel as if there is one overarching goal that God wants us to glean for our lives this morning, and that is for you to become skilled at dealing with this condition so that when you are experiencing similar causes, you too can find the cure. So first, let's look by focusing at the psalmist condition. In psalm 42, one and two, it says, as the deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you, God. I thirst for the living God. When can I come and appear before God? Deer typically aren't stupid animals. They instinctively know how to find water when they're thirsty. And I like that. The word the Niv uses here because rather than it says he longs for water, it says, the deer pants for streams of water, and a panting deer is literally dying of thirst. The picture is it is extremely hot day, and the deer has been under a long, hard chase by a predator. He's finally able to reach a brook or a stream, only to find that the riverbed is dried up. The psalmist is saying, I'm like that deer, and God to me is like that dry riverbed. The psalmist is in a season of spiritual dryness, spiritual deadness. He's in a spiritual drought. He feels beaten down by life and is losing hope. He hasn't lost his faith. He's lost the experiential presence of God in his life. He feels as if God has moved a significant distance away, like he's on vacation or he's too busy with important people's problems and doesn't have time for him. It feels like he has been left alone in his time of distress. In this case, it's important to understand that it's not because of anything he's done wrong. This is not God's discipline for unrepentant sin. There's no sin or confession that's mentioned in the entire psalm. Timothy Keller says, american christians can be very moralistic about this. It's why it can be tough to admit to our christian friends your times of spiritual dryness. Because christian friends might say, have you been reading the word and praying daily. Have you prayed in faith? Have you confessed all known sins? Have you claimed the promises of God? Have you rebuked the devil? Have you pleaded the blood? Have you thanked God for your many blessings? Surely there would be nothing wrong if you consistently did your christian to do lists. This guy has done nothing wrong, and yet he's dying of spiritual thirst. Let me clarify, because, of course, spiritual dryness can be the result of unrepentant sin. Maybe there's an area of disobedience in your life or idolatry that you fuse to give up or refusal to submit to the will of God. And your conscience is being pricked by the Holy Spirit and you're trying to ignore and avoid God. This becomes a spiritual drought of your own making. Some of you are here this morning, and you're living in a dry and weary land where there's no water simply because you've chosen to live there. God is working in your life to draw you back to that place with him, where living waters freely flow again to quench your thirst. And the question is, will you lay down your sin and come to him to drink? So if the psalmist spiritual drought is not due to sin, let's see what the causal factors are that led to this dry place in his life. And the first one that I see is disruption to community. And let's read verses four and verse six again says, I remember this as I pour out my heart, how I walk with many, leading the festive procession to the house of God with joyful and thankful shouts. And then in verse six, it says, I am deeply depressed. Therefore, I remember you from the land of Jordan and the peaks of her mom from Mount Miser. So what these verses are revealing to us is that he used to be in the southern part of Judah, near Jerusalem, where the temple was, and he would lead a weekly procession to the temple. He was the first person to arrive at church every week. The procession would be festive and joyful with shouts of thanksgiving from the multitude. And at the temple, the multitude would be greatly rejoicing. They would worship and remember the great acts of God on behalf of his people. All the people experienced the presence of God in their midst. And each week he and God's people would look forward with excitement and anticipation of gathering together to worship, to be instructed, to be encouraged and experience the presence of God. But now, for some unknown reason, he's in the north, miles away from Jerusalem, near the mountain range of Herman, where Mount Miser is its peak. And he's alone, he's no longer surrounded by his fellow worshippers. Since Covid-19 american Christians and their approach to church life has radically changed. Research says that 80% to 90% of Americans now say I can be a good spiritual person without being part of a group which is contrary to the beliefs and teachings of most major religions. Spiritual vitality was never meant to be experienced as a loner Christian where the belief is all I need is me and God. But let me ask you, how can you ever know for sure if you're right and not self deceived when you're trying to go it alone? How can you stay hot spiritually by yourself? How can you handle life's temptations, burdens, stresses, pressures, disappointments and losses by yourself when it's you or just you and your family? Human nature tends towards independence and isolation, which usually leads to self deception as to the way you really are and misinterpreting life circumstances. If this describes you, you are more than likely a little spiritually dry. Maybe you're a little apathetic and lazy in your christian life. Maybe you're struggling and you're feeling as if God has been far away. It's time for you to make community a priority once again in your life. I know of no Christian who can thrive and be spiritually vital. With the absence of encouragement, support, care, teachings, counsel, the carrying of burdens, prayer support, corporate worship, confession and accountability, serving each other through ministry, the list could go on and on about how much we need each other. And yet, in our culture, in our tendency to be isolated and independent the way that Americans live, we think we can get by by going out alone. Let's look at the second factor that caused his spiritual drought, disillusionment over the events of life. The circumstances of his life are bringing him down. The psalmist has people in his life that are constantly taunting him for his faith in God. His words in verse three and then in verses nine and ten are all day long people say to me, where is your God? Why must I go about in sorrow because of my enemy's oppression? My adversaries taught me as if crushing my bones, while all day long they say to me, where is your God? Something in his life has gone seriously wrong, to the point where people around him can clearly see it, and they're kicking him when he's down. They're kicking him for his faith to continue to be in God, who's allowing all these terrible things to happen in his life. If he's really the God you have claimed him to be who loves and cares about you, then what kind of God is he really, to allow these bad things to happen in your life? That's what they keep saying to him over and over and over. And that's a question I think that many christians have asked themselves over the years. The third causal factor for his spiritual drought is internally, he's depressed. Verse five says, I'm dejected and in turmoil. Verse six, he says, I am deeply depressed. Verse nine, he says, I feel forgotten by God. Verse eleven, again, I am dejected and in turmoil. Have you ever been in that condition? I know I have. Maybe there was a time when there was unresolved conflict in my life, or I received a bad diagnosis, or my wife and I and my family were going through financial stress and pressures, or someone I love was dying or had died. I know what it feels like to experience that inner turmoil and angst where your stomach is churning inside. I know what it feels like to shut off your mind and to stop fixating on the troubling people or circumstances in my life and find any sense of peace and rest. I know the times when the stress level feels so overwhelming and God seems like he's indifferent to what's going on in my life. Like he's kind of left me to fend for myself, and that's not a pleasant place to be. The fourth cause of factor, his spiritual dryness, is he's experiencing physical deprivation. And in verse three, he says, my tears have been my food day and night. And something interesting was pointed out to Tim Keller by a christian doctor friend of his. And Tim Keller says that he couldn't find this in any of the commentaries. And I looked at several commentaries myself and studied Bible and actually listened to a couple sermons, and I couldn't find it either. The writer of the psalm is weeping day and night, and he says his tears have been his food. He's in such turmoil that he's not sleeping. He's tossing and turning in bed because he can't shut his mind off from all his troubles. His stomach is so upset. He's not eating. He has lost his appetite. He's emotionally exhausted and physically exhausted, which has led to his spiritual dryness and depression. And Martin Lloyd Jones, who was a former physician turned preacher, wrote a book on Psalm 42. And he writes this. If a person looks at everything from a physical point of view, if you are discouraged and depressed, that person will tell you, take some medicine. If that person looks at everything from a moral point of view, then if you are depressed, they will say, get your act together. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Stop sniveling, whining and complaining. Buck up, man. If another person looks at everything from a psychological, emotional point of view, they'll say, I'll listen to you, I'll accept you and support you. And they'll say, I'll listen to you. I'll accept you. I'll support you. And when that doesn't work, they'll say, I'll listen to you. I'll accept you. I'll support you. But the Bible says that if your problem is emotional, you need friends who will surround and support and encourage and help to carry your burdens and serve you. If your problem is physical, you need rest, healthy rhythms, a healthy diet, and maybe some medicine. And if your problem is spiritual, what you need is truth. The point is, you need all three to break out of your spiritual funk. You need consistent community. You need proper rest and diet, and you need to immerse yourself in truth. So if you're in a spiritual funk, we're kind of starting to lead to the cure here. So we've looked at the psalmist condition and its spiritual dryness. He's in a spiritual funk. He's depressed. It's a pit that seems that he cannot get out of. And we do not see any evidence that this condition is a result of sin in his life. We then looked at the causal factors that led to a spiritual drought, which were disruption to community, disillusionment over his life circumstances. He's internally depressed, and he's experiencing physical deprivation. So what does God's word reveal in psalm 42 as to how the psalmist can break out of his spiritual drought and once again find his spiritual thirst quenched? Every scholar, commentator and preacher I looked at consistently pointed to four things the psalmist did in search of a cure for his spiritual funk. And the first is that he pours his heart out to God. Psalm 42 four says, I remember this. As I pour out my heart to God, he's listening to the feelings and emotions of his heart, and with great honesty and vulnerability, he's pouring them out to God. And that's really what the entire psalm is. He's being brutally honest with God about his feelings, about the unfavorable and uncontrollable circumstances and people in his life that are causing him pain. I believe that as we pour out our honest feelings and emotions to God in our most difficult moments, our venting sessions with God can become a release that sends us on the path of deliverance. You got to pour your heart and your feeling out to God. The second thing he does is he reorders his hopes. On two occasions he says to himself, why, my soul, are you so dejected? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my savior and my God. In a sense, he's analyzing his heart to determine where his hope has been placed. He's practicing self examination. It appears as if I'm placing my hope in temporal circumstances and people who are letting me down and spiritual dryness often reveals misplaced hopes. I thought with God on my side that my marriage would improve. Or I thought my boss and my work environment would change for the better. Or I thought I'd be married and have children by Now. I thought my sick child would get better or my rebellious child would repent and change. I thought my health would improve and that my cancer would go away. These are all worthwhile desires. But there's no lasting security or stability in life. When we place our hopes on things or on people other than God, circumstances and people will always fail you. Our self examination can reveal to us that we have been finding our weight of significance, identity, purpose and even happiness in stuff that is failing us and it has thrown us into a spiritual funk. The psalmist is redirecting those hopes to God and placing hope on his unchanging character and love. This led me to think about the words from psalm three and was a song that we used to sing that I can still, I can sing it and hear it in my mind. Psalm 33 says, but you, o Lord, are a shield around me. You are my glory and the lifter of my head. The psalmist is relocating the source of his glory to the God who alone can save and deliver him, the God who alone can give lasting hope. The third thing that the psalmist does is he remembers who God is and recalls his past works in his life. I want you to remember that as he's doing this, he's still depressed. He's still spiritually discouraged. He's still in a spiritual drought. But he's trying to remember who God is and he recalls the past works of God in his life. Listen to what he has learned of God in the light that now he's trying to remember in his season of darkness, in his darkest moments. This is what he says about God. He is the living God. He is my savior, my God. He is a God who sends his faithful love. He is the God of my life. He is my rock. If you looked onto psalm 43, which many used to think that psalm 42 and 43 were one psalm. He continues with this. In psalm 43, he says, you are the God of my refuge. You are the God of light and truth. You, God, are my greatest joy. And for the third time, twice in psalm 42, he closes out psalm 43 by saying this, you are my savior and my God. We've come to believe that our God is the same yesterday, today and forever. And what we go through, whether we are high on the peaks or low in the valleys, that he never changes who he is nor his promises to never leave us, to never forsake us and to never stop loving us. I don't want you to miss that. The psalmist also acknowledges the sovereign hand of God over his life and that it's God who has ordained these difficult circumstances he's dealing with. Let's go ahead and read verses seven and eight in psalm 42 one more time. He says, deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls, all your breakers and your billows have swept over me. The Lord will send his faithful love by day. His song will be with me in the night. A prayer to the God of my life. You see what he's saying there? He's saying, God, it is your waterfalls, it is your breakers, it is your billows that have swept over me. God, it is what you have ordained to happen in my life that's making me feel like right now I'm kind of drowning in his spiritual dryness. He creates a song that reminds him of God's covenant faithfulness and his love. He's thinking about the history of God's redemptive story and the evidence of his grace in his life. And he sings this song at night as a prayer to God. And according to the psalm, it says, as tears are running down his face. I remember maybe ten years ago, I'd been out of pastoral ministry for five years, and it was probably the most difficult seven year span for my wife and I and our family. I was seeking God for his will and purpose for my life. And I was on a retreat 4 hours away at a monastery. I was walking along a path in the woods, and along the path there were the stations of the cross. And I was praying to God and believed I received confirmation of him, that he wanted me back in vocational pastoral ministry. The problem was there was no apparent doors to open and walk through. Nothing was even close on my radar screen. There was no opportunities that had presented themselves and I wasn't sure if I was really hearing from God in that moment. So on the drive home, I decided to take a longer alternate route through the scenic rural area and several small towns. It probably increased my drive by an hour, and I found myself singing psalm 121. I lift my eyes to the mountains, from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of the heavens and the earth. As I was singing, I stopped at a red light in this small town. And at the intersection to the right was this small church, and its sign was real close to the road. And the sign said this, I will lift my eyes to the mountains. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of the heavens and the earth. As I was singing that song, those words were on the church. The Holy Spirit led me on that retreat and while I was there spoke to me about returning to pastoral ministry, led me to take an alternate route home through the country. Inspired me to break out in song. Singing 121 caused me to stop at that intersection and read the words on that church sign. And it was those words that bolstered my faith that I had heard from God and had hoped for my future. This leads me to the fourth and final thing the psalmist did, and this may be the most important of all. He preaches to his own heart. Let's read verse five. Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my savior and my God. You see, when we're in a spiritual funk, we need to stop listening to ourselves and start preaching to ourselves. You know what I'm talking about. When you listen to your heart, you're saying all kinds of panicky things to yourself. Everything's terrible. Things are never going to get better. Nothing ever changes or goes well in my life. God doesn't care about me like he cares about so many other people. Nobody has it as worse than I do. Then you start kind of making things up, things that you have no way of knowing for sure this might happen or what if that happens? We feed ourselves on the negativity, which pushes us down into a deeper emotional and spiritual pit that gets harder and harder to get out of. Once again, Martin Lloyd Jones in his book on psalm 42 says, have you ever realized that most of the unhappiness in your life has been you listening to yourself instead of you talking to yourself? You get that? That is so true. Have you ever realized that most of the unhappiness in your life has been you listening to yourself instead of you talking to yourself? The first thing we have to learn is what the psalmist learned. This man stands up and says, self, listen to me for a moment. And he reminds himself of who God is and what God has done and what God has pledged himself to do. Then on this great note, defy the whole world and say with the man, I shall yet praise him, for he is my savior and my God. You know, and I can think of no better scripture passage to memorize so that you can preach to yourself than romans 828 through 39. And I actually placed it on some cards to memorize. And I was hoping that I'd get through all twelve verses so that I could just recite it to you. But I don't think I'm going to make it, but I'm going to get this down because this is a passage to preach to yourself when you're in a spiritual funk. He says, we know that in all things God works together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. For those God for new he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the first born among many brothers. And those God predestined he also called. And those God called he also justified. And those he justified he also glorified. What shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but graciously gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him, give us all things? And this is where I go back to the card. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall trouble our hardship, our persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger or sword. As it is written, for your sake we face death all day long. We are considered sheep to be slaughtered. Knowing all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Preach that to yourself. Stop feeding on those negative thoughts over and over and over again and take the word of God and begin to sow it in your mind and in your heart and start preaching to yourself, and you'll find yourself getting free of that spiritual funk that you've been in. We see from the last verse in psalm 42 and 43 that he never stopped fighting for hope. He never stopped fighting to praise his God. Three times throughout those two psalms, he preached these words to himself. Why, my soul, are you so dejected why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my savior and my God. That tells me that his difficult circumstances did not change and the difficult people in his life didn't go away. His problems, as he wrote the words of psalm 42 and 43, had not ended. He isn't waiting for the circumstances and people to change before trying to be renewed in his hope. He's adjusting his focus to the one true, consistent, faithful, reliable, trustworthy, dependable, unchanging good in his life, which is his God and his savior. If you are experiencing a spiritual drought, you have to fight to get back. And this fight will always begin with very little enthusiasm. That's why it's going to be a fight. So Sunday worship, choose. Don't miss it. Come out every Sunday, even if you're spiritually depressed. Community life. Surround yourself with people who will support you and pray for you and help carry your burdens and encourage you. Keep getting on your knees in prayer. Keep opening your bible every morning. Pour out your heart to God and if you don't feel anything, talk to God about it. Let him know how much you miss him and ask him for help in getting back to him. Chris, you can come on up. I would be remiss this morning if I didn't bring us back to Jesus, for this psalm points to him in some very incredible ways. The Bible, both Old Testament and new, tells of one unified story from beginning to end. Genesis, all the way through revelation, is God's story. It's a story of his plan of redemption and the restoration of all things. That sin is devastated. It's a story of how things have gone horribly wrong and points to the one who will make all things right, one unbroken scarlet thread throughout pointing to the one who would come to redeem us and reconcile us to God and restore all things to his original sinless perfection. This is the plan of God that has been unfolding since the creation of the world. All this points to Jesus, and psalm 42 is no different, for Jesus himself was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Jesus was relentlessly mocked by his enemies, even to the point as he hung on the cross, they shouted, where's your God now? Why isn't he here to save you? As Jesus hung their suffering, he said, I thirst. And as he neared death, in a loud voice, he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Jesus, the eternal God, the creator and sustainer of all things, the God who put his glory aside to come in human flesh, who was born to a virgin that first Christmas morning, for 33 years, lived a perfect, sinless life. Perfect God and perfect man, the only one who could justly pay for our sin. Powerfully taught of his kingdom and demonstrated his arrival through performing miracles, he was unjustly arrested and sentenced to death. He was crucified, died, and was buried. And on the third day, he rose from the dead, proving that he was God and that he had victory over sin and death to all who believe in him, and then ascended to heaven. And now the scriptures declare this in Hebrews 414 through 16. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do have a high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, for who is tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Jesus Christ is our one steady and sure hope. He's our refuge and strength. He's our life source, our supply and security. He's the bread of life that satisfies our spiritual hunger. He's the living waters that quenches our spiritual thirst. He's our rock and redeemer. He is our savior and our God. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look at his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. I want to give you some time to pray, and we're going to have some prayer counselors, men and women that are in the four corners of the room. And if you come here this morning burdened, if you've come here this morning spiritually dry or discouraged or depressed, want to invite you to pray with a prayer counselor. Today we have men and women who would just love to pray with you. And whatever you share with them is just between you and them and God. Who knows? Maybe today could be the start of a breakthrough for you. Spend some time talking things over with God. And if you want to pray with someone, find a pastor or a prayer counselor and do that this morning. Go ahead and spend some time in prayer. [01:04:53] Speaker G: We're going to continue in worship by taking communion. So if you have your elements, go ahead and get them ready. If you don't, then you can raise your hand, and Kurt will provide those. [01:05:02] Speaker B: For. [01:05:30] Speaker G: Throughout the majority of human history, we've struggled with the curse of sin that leads us to depression. It leads us into pain. It leads us into sorrow and hurt, and we saw this amazing example today of this psalmist who's dealing with these things, and yet he clings, he holds on to hope. The advent season is meant to be one where we can remind ourselves of these truths. This is a time of the year where if we allow it to, it can overwhelm us. We can be busy and we can allow it to, for many of us to plunge us into depression and busyness and sorrow and frustration and all of these same things that the psalmist struggled with. Or we can hold on to these truths that we will celebrate and talk about on these weeks of advent. Jesus sat down with his friends right before this time of intense pain and turmoil for both himself and them. And he took this Passover meal, which was a meal that already stood for the promises of God and a reminder that God fulfills his promises and they can have hope in the truth of what God says. And he reminded them that this meal was really about him, that he was both fulfilling the promises that had been given and also pointing them towards new promises. He tells them right at the beginning of this meal that he was eagerly anticipating having this meal with them. And then he tells them that he won't have it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. This meal is a reminder and a promise in this season of life. I hope that we can take this and use it both to give us a confidence that Jesus fulfills his promises and a hope that he will fulfill. He will continue fulfilling his promises. He will come back. He has saved us and he will continue to save us. So let's keep that in mind as we take this meal. Take the bread. Jesus said that this represented his body, broken and crushed and beaten for us, that he is the bread of life. His body is what we need. So take the bread. Same time, he also took the juice and he poured it for his disciples. And he said that this is my blood. It represents my blood which is poured out for you. He says, to give you, to represent, to give you this covenant of grace. That this invited them in invites us into a covenant of grace, covenant of love and peace. So take this in remembrance of Jesus and in hope that he will come again. [01:09:37] Speaker A: Expected Jesus, born to set thy people free from our fears and sins. Release us, let us find our rest in thee Israel, strength and consolation hope of all the earth thou art dear desire of every nation joy of every belonging heart joy to those who long to see the days bring from on high up here come thou promise, rod of Jesse of thy birth we long to hear all the hills of angels singing news, glad tidings of a birth go to him your praises bring in Christ. The Lord has come to earth. Come to earth to taste our sadness. He whose glories knew by his life he brings us gladness. Our redeemer shepherd from leaving riches without number born within a cattle star. This the everlasting wonder Christ was born the Lord of all people to deliver born a child and get a king born to reign in us forever. Now thy gracious kingdom bring by thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone. By thine all sufficient merit raise us to thy glorious throne. [01:12:49] Speaker B: Amen. What an encouraging day to be together. Church. Listen, before we jet today, I got to remind us of a couple of things. So hopefully on your way in, you grabbed a bulletin. Obviously, everything in the bulletin is also online on our next steps page. And so you can always check that out. In fact, you should check that out. That's a good way to keep up to date on what's going on in the life of our church. Christmas is a busy time in our lives. It's a busy time in church life. There's a lot of stuff going on, and so I want to draw your attention to three specific things. The first one is this. This isn't in your bulletin. I think they maybe were already printed, but it is on the website. We are doing a giving tree again for a family in need across the street at Ellisville elementary. And so on that Christmas tree right there, you can all turn and look. It's right there. It's pretty. It's covered in ornaments. And those ornaments represent different, some gifts, but also some really specific practical needs for one specific family that we're ministering to over at Ellisville elementary. That it's going to be just a little thing between us and the Lord. We don't know who they are and they don't know us, but we get to serve them and be the hands and feet of Christ to them. So if that's something you're able to do to kind of as part of your worship and part of your celebration of the Lord this year, I'd encourage you to look at that tree, grab one of the ornaments, take it home, buy that gift, bring it back. I'm not sure what Sunday it has to be back by, but it's on the website. A great excuse to go to the website and check the next steps page. Also, this coming Saturday, December 2, we have our church family meeting. Listen, guys, we only do one of these a year, so you should come to it. It's going to be great. We're going to celebrate what we've seen God do in our church over the course of this year. We're going to talk about some of the plan, the vision, the thoughts of what we think God might be leading us to in the new year. And so it's going to be a good time to enjoy a meal together to celebrate God's faithfulness to us here at Amino. That's this Saturday night in this space. And the last one is this. If you are a married man in the room, I want to talk to you about the Women's Cookie exchange. All right, now, I know what you're thinking. How is this announcement for me? Let me tell you. If you're a married man in the room and you convince your spouse to sign up for the Women's cookie exchange, she will bring home cookies to your house and it will be a variety of cookies, a mixture of cookies, cookies that you don't normally experience. Listen, if you are in this room and you're married to a Woman and you love cookies, this is the event for you. Make sure your wife has signed up for that there sign up sheet on the welcome table. All the information you need is there. That's about that. On that note. On that note. I'm just going to send us out of here, guys. It is such a joy to be together as a family of faith. And so let's go today not just in the peace of Christ. Let's go today in the hope of the gospel. Amen. We love you guys. We'll see you this week in gospel communities. And Lord willing, next week back in the same space.