100:00:00,840 –> 00:00:07,140Listen to your heart. Follow your heart.200:00:07,140 –> 00:00:10,480That sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?300:00:10,480 –> 00:00:16,980The assumption behind this advice, of course, is that your heart is a reliable indicator400:00:16,980 –> 00:00:19,200of what is right.500:00:19,200 –> 00:00:24,280And then the problem with that is that it completely ignores the Christian doctrine600:00:24,280 –> 00:00:26,160of sin.700:00:26,160 –> 00:00:28,600Welcome to Open The Bible, with pastor Colin Smith.800:00:28,700 –> 00:00:30,160Good evening, I’m David Pick.900:00:30,160 –> 00:00:33,540Thanks for being with us today, and Colin it sounds a bit heavy today.1000:00:33,560 –> 00:00:35,580The Christian doctrine of sin?1100:00:35,580 –> 00:00:38,340The Christian doctrine of sin, that’s quite a lead line for the program.1200:00:38,340 –> 00:00:43,599Now, a lot of folks have the idea that sin is simply mistakes or doing bad things.1300:00:43,599 –> 00:00:48,540The Christian doctrine of sin, in other words, what the Bible teaches about sin, is that1400:00:48,540 –> 00:00:52,820it has a profound effect on every part of the human personality, and that that’s true1500:00:52,820 –> 00:00:55,599of every person on the face of the planet.1600:00:55,599 –> 00:01:01,919Sin has affected the mind, so that we do not see the glory of God as we would have done1700:01:01,919 –> 00:01:03,919if we were not infected by sin.1800:01:03,919 –> 00:01:05,160It affects the human heart.1900:01:05,160 –> 00:01:07,400It affects the human will.2000:01:07,400 –> 00:01:14,220So as soon as a person sees that, I mean if you believe that my heart has actually been2100:01:14,220 –> 00:01:19,040affected by sin, then simply to follow the impulses of my heart would be crazy.2200:01:19,040 –> 00:01:20,519That’s going to mislead me.2300:01:20,519 –> 00:01:24,400It’s going to mislead me, so I need to take sin seriously in my life.2400:01:24,419 –> 00:01:26,300But how do I begin to do that.2500:01:26,300 –> 00:01:30,599Well, the good news for a Christian is that God gives us a new heart.2600:01:30,599 –> 00:01:34,680But what I’ve got to be realistic about as a Christian is that even with the new heart,2700:01:34,680 –> 00:01:38,980I live this life in the flesh and therefore there are going to be many many things on2800:01:38,980 –> 00:01:43,919an ongoing basis that I have to confess to God and I have to get used to doing what the2900:01:43,919 –> 00:01:52,040Bible says, examining myself to look at where sin is working its way in the inner life so3000:01:52,720 –> 00:01:57,599Confessing that to God and bringing it under the blood of Christ, there may be progress3100:01:57,599 –> 00:02:02,500against sin rather than sin making progress against the new Life of Christ in me.3200:02:02,500 –> 00:02:04,820That’s what today’s message is all about.3300:02:04,820 –> 00:02:09,660It’s called Confess, so join us if you can in Psalm 73.3400:02:09,660 –> 00:02:11,119Here’s Colin.3500:02:11,119 –> 00:02:16,320Now as we come to these verses today this is the toughest part of the whole Psalm, you3600:02:16,380 –> 00:02:18,839You need to brace yourself for this.3700:02:18,839 –> 00:02:24,940This is brutally honest but here’s the good news.3800:02:24,940 –> 00:02:32,119The kind of honesty that we find here is the honesty that leads to a changed life.3900:02:32,119 –> 00:02:40,119When my heart was grieved, verse 21, and my spirit was embittered I was senseless and4000:02:40,119 –> 00:02:45,839ignorant, I was a brute beast before you.4100:02:45,860 –> 00:02:49,440Now we’ll come to the detail of what Asaph says here in a moment but let’s start with4200:02:49,440 –> 00:02:51,759the big picture.4300:02:51,759 –> 00:02:55,820This is a confession of sin.4400:02:55,820 –> 00:03:01,660A confession of sin, remember, from one of the most godly men who has ever lived.4500:03:01,660 –> 00:03:06,119And that teaches us the first thing that we’ve got to grasp today, which is that confession4600:03:06,119 –> 00:03:11,860is a normal part of a healthy Christian life.4700:03:12,440 –> 00:03:17,699Now remember the Apostle John says in the New Testament, if we confess our sins,4800:03:17,699 –> 00:03:22,020God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from4900:03:22,020 –> 00:03:23,580all unrighteousness.5000:03:23,580 –> 00:03:25,860And John wrote these words to who?5100:03:25,860 –> 00:03:29,360To Christians, to the children of God.5200:03:29,360 –> 00:03:37,220And then he added to Christians, if we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves.5300:03:37,380 –> 00:03:40,240So if we say we had no sin, we are deceiving ourselves.5400:03:40,240 –> 00:03:46,639In other words, if you cannot see anything in your life right now that you could appropriately5500:03:46,639 –> 00:03:50,660confess a sin to God, you are simply not seeing clearly.5600:03:50,660 –> 00:03:53,020You’re blind.5700:03:53,020 –> 00:04:01,559If we’re walking around thinking that there is no sin within us, we are deceiving ourselves.5800:04:01,559 –> 00:04:06,600So confessing our sins is not some kind of aberration of the Christian life, not something5900:04:06,619 –> 00:04:09,639abnormal, not some sign of dysfunction.6000:04:09,639 –> 00:04:13,339It is a normal part of a healthy Christian life.6100:04:13,339 –> 00:04:16,220Now, here’s the second thing.6200:04:16,220 –> 00:04:21,619Confession exposes what’s hidden in your heart.6300:04:21,619 –> 00:04:25,959First thing was confession is a normal part of a healthy Christian life, second, confession6400:04:25,959 –> 00:04:28,640exposes what’s hidden in your heart.6500:04:28,640 –> 00:04:34,040And here we look a little more detail at what Asaph actually says in his confession.6600:04:34,200 –> 00:04:39,500Verse 21, when my heart was grieved.6700:04:39,500 –> 00:04:45,220Now, these verses then open up what was happening in Asaph’s heart.6800:04:45,220 –> 00:04:47,799Remember the heart of a godly man.6900:04:47,799 –> 00:04:52,440What had been happening in that heart before he came into the sanctuary and God turned7000:04:52,440 –> 00:04:55,640on the light in his mind?7100:04:55,640 –> 00:05:01,100These things had been hidden even from Asaph himself but when he came into the presence7200:05:01,200 –> 00:05:06,299of God, God turned on the light and he saw things in himself that he had not seen before7300:05:06,299 –> 00:05:11,359and that was why he was able to make this confession.7400:05:11,359 –> 00:05:16,839When my heart was grieved.7500:05:16,839 –> 00:05:25,100Now when your heart is grieved there are some sins to which you will be especially prone7600:05:25,100 –> 00:05:28,540and you need to be aware of what they are.7700:05:28,619 –> 00:05:33,500We’re going to find them and see them clearly in these very verses.7800:05:33,500 –> 00:05:38,980Now notice the 3 sins therefore that Asaph confesses so that you can be on your guard7900:05:38,980 –> 00:05:43,619against them, especially at times when your heart is grieved because they’re going to8000:05:43,619 –> 00:05:47,820be near to us at these times.8100:05:47,820 –> 00:05:49,779Number 1.8200:05:49,779 –> 00:05:52,920My spirit was bitter.8300:05:52,920 –> 00:05:55,459That’s his first confession.8400:05:55,579 –> 00:06:02,059My heart was grieved and my spirit embittered.8500:06:02,059 –> 00:06:05,899Now it may be that my heart was grieved and my spirit was embittered are actually two8600:06:05,899 –> 00:06:07,700ways of saying the same thing.8700:06:07,700 –> 00:06:10,839That is often the pattern in Hebrew poetry.8800:06:10,839 –> 00:06:17,559But we all know that you can have a grieved heart without a bitter spirit.8900:06:17,559 –> 00:06:24,720So I’m suggesting that the first sin that Asaph confesses here is a bitter spirit.9000:06:24,760 –> 00:06:28,079Lord, I see now what’s been happening.9100:06:28,920 –> 00:06:31,940I became bitter.9200:06:33,299 –> 00:06:37,260There were things in my life that made no sense to me.9300:06:37,260 –> 00:06:42,899And what happened was that I was soured towards you, and soured towards other people.9400:06:44,100 –> 00:06:48,799I saw how you were blessing others more than me and it churned away at me.9500:06:48,799 –> 00:06:50,679Self pity came in.9600:06:50,679 –> 00:06:52,839I began to feel sorry for myself.9700:06:52,839 –> 00:06:56,859My spirit was embittered.9800:06:56,859 –> 00:07:01,519This is my confession, my spirit was bitter.9900:07:01,519 –> 00:07:06,000Second, my heart ruled my head.10000:07:06,519 –> 00:07:15,559Look at this, when my heart was grieved, I was senseless and ignorant.10100:07:15,559 –> 00:07:21,579Now these two words, senseless and ignorant are words about the mind.10200:07:21,579 –> 00:07:26,339So you see what he is saying, when my heart was grieved, when my emotions were stirred10300:07:26,339 –> 00:07:31,700up, everything I knew and believed about you oh Lord seemed to just fly out the window.10400:07:31,700 –> 00:07:33,260Now you know how this happens.10500:07:33,260 –> 00:07:39,779You got your faith and then you hit some crisis and when the emotions get going and somehow10600:07:39,779 –> 00:07:44,480your heart rules your head and everything you ever said you believed about God, suddenly10700:07:44,480 –> 00:07:45,880seems to fly out the window.10800:07:45,880 –> 00:07:50,920I started thinking like an unbeliever thinks, I started to talk to my friends in gloomy10900:07:50,980 –> 00:07:55,239terms as if there was no God, no help, no hope, no future.11000:07:55,239 –> 00:07:57,100What was I thinking about?11100:07:57,100 –> 00:08:05,380I was senseless, I was ignorant, I let my heart rule my head when my heart was grieved.11200:08:07,040 –> 00:08:12,160I’ve enjoyed watching the film Home Alone, you seen that one?11300:08:12,160 –> 00:08:16,880Home Alone, I don’t know, we must have watched it a dozen times at Christmas.11400:08:16,880 –> 00:08:23,279And you know the story of the small boy who is accidentally left at home when his family11500:08:23,279 –> 00:08:30,600takes a trip at Christmas and then the whole house is turned into chaos as he defends the11600:08:30,600 –> 00:08:39,140home from burglars magnificently by pouring tar out on the basement, swinging pots of11700:08:39,140 –> 00:08:44,659paint from the staircase, pulling shelves on the wall, smashing glass Christmas tree11800:08:44,700 –> 00:08:50,880decorations on the carpet and the amazing thing is—it amazes me every time I’ve11900:08:50,880 –> 00:08:57,099seen this film—that when the parents come back there isn’t the slightest sign that12000:08:57,099 –> 00:08:58,159anything has happened.12100:08:58,159 –> 00:09:00,580The whole home is restored to perfect order.12200:09:00,580 –> 00:09:03,320How in all the world did that happen?12300:09:03,320 –> 00:09:14,460Now listen, letting your heart rule your head is like letting the kids run the home.12400:09:14,520 –> 00:09:15,760Think about it.12500:09:15,760 –> 00:09:23,580Your kids bring life and joy to the home, and a few problems as well, but home wouldn’t12600:09:23,580 –> 00:09:30,479be the wonderful place that it is with all the joy if they weren’t there.12700:09:30,479 –> 00:09:34,640But if you let the kids take over running the home it will not be long until there is12800:09:34,640 –> 00:09:35,640chaos.12900:09:35,640 –> 00:09:37,820Now think of it like this.13000:09:37,820 –> 00:09:41,940Your heart is like a child.13100:09:41,940 –> 00:09:46,059Your head is like a parent.13200:09:46,059 –> 00:09:51,000The heart, like the child, brings you great joy and a few problems as well.13300:09:51,000 –> 00:09:56,979But it is the head that is to bring order to your life.13400:09:56,979 –> 00:10:00,900Now here’s what happens, when the heart is grieved, the heart gets kind of worked up,13500:10:00,900 –> 00:10:05,760and the heart comes to the head and says to the head, head, I the heart, would like to13600:10:05,760 –> 00:10:10,359takeover running this house of your life for a while.13700:10:10,359 –> 00:10:16,200And if the head says to the heart, well now, that will be just fine, and hands over control13800:10:16,200 –> 00:10:22,140of the house, it will not be long before chaos reigns.13900:10:22,140 –> 00:10:25,520And that is precisely what happened to Asaph.14000:10:25,520 –> 00:10:31,919His heart was grieved, and he allowed his heart to rule his head.14100:10:32,000 –> 00:10:35,599When his emotions got all stirred up, he allowed them to take over.14200:10:35,599 –> 00:10:38,919No wonder chaos reigned in his life.14300:10:38,919 –> 00:10:40,840And he confesses this to God.14400:10:40,840 –> 00:10:44,840Here’s what I see now in the light of your truth has been happening to me.14500:10:44,840 –> 00:10:50,679When my heart was grieved, the head checked out, I became senseless, I became ignorant,14600:10:50,679 –> 00:10:54,820everything I ever believed about you went flying out the window.14700:10:54,820 –> 00:11:02,840I allowed my grief to rule my life, lord, have mercy upon me.14800:11:02,840 –> 00:11:05,820My spirit was bitter.14900:11:05,820 –> 00:11:11,340My heart ruled my head and chaos was the result.15000:11:11,340 –> 00:11:14,940And then look at the third thing, remember the sins to which we’re especially prone.15100:11:14,940 –> 00:11:21,320At times when we’re grieved, I was acting on impulse.15200:11:21,900 –> 00:11:26,039We’re listening to Open The Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called Hopeful Confess,15300:11:26,039 –> 00:11:32,859part of our series I Almost Gave Up, all about Asaph from Psalm 73.15400:11:32,859 –> 00:11:35,919If you ever miss one of the series, don’t forget that you can always catch up, or go15500:11:35,919 –> 00:11:41,979back and listen again online, at our website openthebible.org.uk.15600:11:41,979 –> 00:11:44,320Back to the message now, here’s Colin.15700:11:44,320 –> 00:11:48,659And then look at the third thing, remember the sins to which we’re especially prone.15800:11:48,960 –> 00:11:55,700At times when we’re grieved, I was acting on impulse.15900:11:55,700 –> 00:12:02,900When my heart was grieved, I was like a brute beast before you.16000:12:02,900 –> 00:12:03,900Now, what does that mean?16100:12:03,900 –> 00:12:10,780Well, the point about a brute beast is that, of course, the animals act on impulse.16200:12:10,780 –> 00:12:16,179One of the great gifts that God has given to men and to women is the gift of reason,16300:12:16,179 –> 00:12:19,500logic, reflection, analysis.16400:12:19,500 –> 00:12:21,859These gifts are not given to the animals.16500:12:21,859 –> 00:12:29,679The animals acts on impulse, and Esau says, this is what I was doing.16600:12:29,679 –> 00:12:33,380I was not acting on reason, I was acting on impulse.16700:12:33,380 –> 00:12:38,380When my heart was grieved, I was just being pushed around by the impulses of bitterness16800:12:38,380 –> 00:12:40,940and of unbelief and of despair.16900:12:40,940 –> 00:12:46,080No wonder my feet had almost slipped.17000:12:46,080 –> 00:12:52,400This is important for us especially because we live in a culture where people just love17100:12:52,400 –> 00:12:57,739the idea of acting on impulse.17200:12:57,739 –> 00:13:03,020One of the greatest slogans of our time and I’m going to give you the first half and17300:13:03,020 –> 00:13:06,099you’re going to complete it for me, is this.17400:13:06,099 –> 00:13:11,900If it feels good, do it.17500:13:11,900 –> 00:13:13,859That’s a slogan of our time isn’t it?17600:13:13,859 –> 00:13:14,859What is that?17700:13:14,940 –> 00:13:17,859It is acting on impulse.17800:13:17,859 –> 00:13:25,219If you have absolutely nothing else that you can think of to do, spend some time watching17900:13:25,219 –> 00:13:31,020a radio or television show where people call in with their problems and you will hear the18000:13:31,020 –> 00:13:36,500same thing over and over and over and over again.18100:13:36,500 –> 00:13:38,580Listen to your heart.18200:13:38,580 –> 00:13:41,039Follow your heart.18300:13:41,039 –> 00:13:43,659That sounds wonderful doesn’t it?18400:13:43,739 –> 00:13:47,200Some of us are drinking it in.18500:13:47,200 –> 00:13:54,000The assumption behind this advice, of course, is that your heart is a reliable indicator18600:13:54,000 –> 00:13:55,280of what is right.18700:13:55,280 –> 00:14:02,539And the problem with that is that it completely ignores the Christian doctrine of sin.18800:14:02,539 –> 00:14:08,080You see a person who passes out the advice to everyone, follow your heart, follow your18900:14:08,080 –> 00:14:12,619heart, simply doesn’t believe the Christian doctrine of sin.19000:14:13,559 –> 00:14:21,960The problem with me following my heart is that there are way too many impulses in my19100:14:21,960 –> 00:14:25,559heart that would lead me into sin if I followed them.19200:14:26,440 –> 00:14:32,020There are impulses in here to pride, impulses to greed, impulses to self-justification,19300:14:32,020 –> 00:14:34,080and a whole lot else besides.19400:14:35,520 –> 00:14:38,619Following your heart is a dangerous business.19500:14:39,359 –> 00:14:41,539Now, let’s not swing the other way.19600:14:41,539 –> 00:14:44,820I’m not suggesting for a moment that your heart is always wrong.19700:14:44,820 –> 00:14:47,099I mean, the Holy Spirit lives within your heart.19800:14:47,099 –> 00:14:51,219But plainly from the scripture, a Christian who understands his or herself will know19900:14:51,219 –> 00:14:56,219and believe that the impulses of your heart and the impulses of mine are mixed.20000:14:57,179 –> 00:15:02,299Sometimes, your instincts will be enlightened by the Holy Spirit.20100:15:02,919 –> 00:15:06,500Sometimes, your instincts will be guided by the flesh.20200:15:07,340 –> 00:15:11,840That is why you and I have to submit all our instincts to what?20300:15:11,840 –> 00:15:13,859The Word of God.20400:15:14,179 –> 00:15:21,820So that we can discern and discover what impulses I need to fight against.20500:15:21,820 –> 00:15:24,500And what impulses I need to follow.20600:15:25,719 –> 00:15:28,140Now, Asaph says I’ve given up on that altogether.20700:15:28,140 –> 00:15:29,679I just lost it.20800:15:30,580 –> 00:15:32,059Here’s what was happening.20900:15:32,059 –> 00:15:36,419And Lord, since you’ve touched me to open up my mind to the truth in the sanctuary,21000:15:36,440 –> 00:15:38,020I see it so clearly.21100:15:38,020 –> 00:15:46,400My spirit was bitter, my heart ruled my head, I was acting on impulse.21200:15:47,700 –> 00:15:50,500Now, this is a serious confession of sin.21300:15:51,320 –> 00:15:57,940See, it’s going way beyond a list of things that Asaph had said or had done.21400:15:57,940 –> 00:16:03,140What he’s doing is, in the searchlight of God’s truth, the hidden movements of this21500:16:03,580 –> 00:16:09,020man’s heart is uncovered, and he’s brought to a position where he finds liberty, as he21600:16:09,020 –> 00:16:13,059confesses it, before God.21700:16:13,059 –> 00:16:20,979When my heart was grieved, and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant, I was a brute21800:16:20,979 –> 00:16:21,979beast.21900:16:23,059 –> 00:16:27,440But you know, the deepest part of this confession is in the last two words.22000:16:27,440 –> 00:16:28,880You notice them there?22100:16:28,880 –> 00:16:32,479I was like a brute beast before you.22200:16:33,140 –> 00:16:35,599Before you, oh God.22300:16:35,599 –> 00:16:40,559Now, there really is an appropriate sense of shame here.22400:16:40,559 –> 00:16:46,840See, earlier I think we engaged with Asaph when he made the point, if I’d followed the22500:16:46,840 –> 00:16:49,859thoughts of my mind I would’ve let everybody down.22600:16:49,859 –> 00:16:55,320Here he’s now saying, Oh, Lord, I see now that all this junk that was going on inside22700:16:55,320 –> 00:16:59,219of me, it was all before you!22800:16:59,820 –> 00:17:05,300What a fool I’ve been!22900:17:05,300 –> 00:17:12,239My spirit was bitter and that was before you.23000:17:12,239 –> 00:17:14,400I let my heart roll, my head.23100:17:14,400 –> 00:17:18,359And you watched all the chaos that followed.23200:17:18,359 –> 00:17:21,459I was acting on impulse.23300:17:21,459 –> 00:17:26,579And you saw what I did.23400:17:26,579 –> 00:17:29,260You saw me act on impulse on that website.23500:17:29,260 –> 00:17:31,640You heard me speak on impulse at that breakfast.23600:17:31,640 –> 00:17:35,560It was all before you.23700:17:35,560 –> 00:17:41,300This is the confession of a godly man.23800:17:41,300 –> 00:17:49,500And asaph’s not a man who needs counseling, he’s a man who needs cleansing.23900:17:49,500 –> 00:17:59,459He needs to bring out the junk of his inner life in the presence of God he needs to confess.24000:17:59,459 –> 00:18:08,719And I expect that all of us, I hope that all of us, feel that we need to enter into this24100:18:08,719 –> 00:18:12,739third dimension of asaph’s five point turn today.24200:18:12,739 –> 00:18:15,859Stop, think, confess.24300:18:16,780 –> 00:18:19,180Now here’s some good news.24400:18:19,180 –> 00:18:25,579You are never closer to Christ than when you are most aware of your own sin.24500:18:25,579 –> 00:18:29,739Luke tells us about what happened when Jesus called the first disciples to follow him.24600:18:29,739 –> 00:18:35,300Do you remember the story Peter had been out fishing all night, didn’t catch a thing, and24700:18:35,300 –> 00:18:38,260Jesus tells him to throw out the net one more time?24800:18:38,260 –> 00:18:42,739And suddenly there are more fish in the net than Peter can pull in.24900:18:42,939 –> 00:18:49,780And Peter immediately realizes that he is in the presence of the Lord.25000:18:49,780 –> 00:18:51,300And what’s the first thing he says?25100:18:51,300 –> 00:18:53,479Depart from me, I’m a sinful man.25200:18:53,479 –> 00:18:56,520That’s what he says to Jesus.25300:18:56,520 –> 00:19:01,800You feel that instinctively.25400:19:01,800 –> 00:19:07,739Of course, Jesus didn’t go what Jesus said, no, no, no, you follow me, you follow me.25500:19:08,719 –> 00:19:13,859Actually it was the nearness of Christ that made him see his sinfulness as never before.25600:19:13,900 –> 00:19:20,060You are never closer to Christ than when you are most aware of your own sin.25700:19:20,060 –> 00:19:26,439And so, if that awareness is strong for you right now, thank God for it.25800:19:26,439 –> 00:19:30,780It’s the one who shines the light who’s drawing near, and he’s drawing near not because he25900:19:30,780 –> 00:19:37,000wants to leave you but because he wants you to follow him.26000:19:37,000 –> 00:19:44,680What happened to Asaph was the turning point of his life.26100:19:44,680 –> 00:19:47,260Confession is a normal part of a healthy Christian life.26200:19:47,260 –> 00:19:51,560Confession exposes what’s hidden in your heart, and lastly, and very briefly, confession26300:19:51,560 –> 00:19:54,380opens the door to hope.26400:19:54,380 –> 00:20:01,839What would you think that the outcome of this confession would be?26500:20:01,839 –> 00:20:03,599Listen to it just one more time.26600:20:03,920 –> 00:20:09,859When my heart was grieved and my spirit was embittered, I was senseless and ignorant,26700:20:09,859 –> 00:20:13,920I was a brute beast before You.26800:20:13,920 –> 00:20:15,719What would the outcome of that be?26900:20:15,719 –> 00:20:20,099Therefore, I am a total failure.27000:20:20,099 –> 00:20:24,660Therefore my life is messed up and is a loss.27100:20:24,660 –> 00:20:28,920Therefore there is no future usefulness for me in Your kingdom or in Your purpose.27200:20:28,920 –> 00:20:30,319No, that’s not the outcome.27300:20:30,319 –> 00:20:31,579What is the outcome?27400:20:31,579 –> 00:20:33,199Verse 23.27500:20:33,199 –> 00:20:38,479Yet, I am always with You.27600:20:38,479 –> 00:20:42,859Would you have expected that to be the next statement?27700:20:42,859 –> 00:20:47,439See, true confession never leads to despair, it always opens the door of hope.27800:20:47,439 –> 00:20:48,579I love this word.27900:20:48,579 –> 00:20:50,819Yet.28000:20:50,819 –> 00:20:54,300My spirit was bitter, my heart ruled my head, I was acting on impulse.28100:20:54,300 –> 00:20:56,660Yet, I am always with You.28200:20:56,680 –> 00:21:00,760Only a believer can pray like this.28300:21:00,760 –> 00:21:06,479We often think about the Lord walking with us through life on our path.28400:21:06,479 –> 00:21:10,719But a better way to think about the Christian life is that you are walking with Christ on28500:21:10,719 –> 00:21:11,959His path.28600:21:11,959 –> 00:21:16,760And that’s what Asaph gets here, he says Yet, I am always with you.28700:21:16,760 –> 00:21:21,640Yet, Lord, here is the miracle, despite everything that has happened and all the junk that is28800:21:21,640 –> 00:21:26,599in my life, I’m still here in your presence today, Lord, thank you for that.28900:21:27,219 –> 00:21:29,760And why is it that I’m here in your presence today?29000:21:29,760 –> 00:21:36,420It is because you have held me by my right hand.29100:21:36,420 –> 00:21:39,359My feet had almost slipped.29200:21:39,359 –> 00:21:41,560Why didn’t they slip?29300:21:41,560 –> 00:21:46,359O says Asaph, God, you held me up, you held me by my right hand.29400:21:46,359 –> 00:21:47,599Verse 23.29500:21:47,599 –> 00:21:49,760I came into the sanctuary.29600:21:49,760 –> 00:21:51,819Why did I come into the sanctuary?29700:21:51,819 –> 00:21:55,280God prompted him to come into His presence.29800:21:55,280 –> 00:22:04,459If sustaining the Christian life depended on me, I would have given up long ago.29900:22:04,459 –> 00:22:06,500Wouldn’t you?30000:22:06,500 –> 00:22:12,459But thank God with Asaph, you can say, as a Christian and I can say as a Christian,30100:22:12,459 –> 00:22:15,359you hold me by my right hand.30200:22:15,359 –> 00:22:20,900And, Lord, that’s why I’m here in your presence today.30300:22:20,900 –> 00:22:25,099If you hadn’t held me by my right hand, I have no idea where I’d be today and what I’d30400:22:25,099 –> 00:22:29,219be doing, but I’m here.30500:22:29,219 –> 00:22:31,979And it’s all because of your grace.30600:22:31,979 –> 00:22:40,459It’s all because of your mercy, which even now is reaching me in the depth of my own30700:22:40,459 –> 00:22:41,459womb.30800:22:41,459 –> 00:22:45,500Useful reminder there from Pastor Colin, that Confession is crucial to prevent our30900:22:45,500 –> 00:22:48,020hearts from becoming hardened.31000:22:48,020 –> 00:22:52,619God knows the worst about us anyway, so we can’t really surprise Him.31100:23:22,819 –> 00:23:26,400Today we turn our attention to Open the Bible Daily.31200:23:26,400 –> 00:23:32,540Start in April, we have two new readers, taking over from Sue Micklees, who’s been our main31300:23:32,540 –> 00:23:34,560reader for many years.31400:23:34,560 –> 00:23:42,119You can find Open the Bible Daily on our website, OpenTheBible.org.uk, also on all main podcast31500:23:42,119 –> 00:23:43,260sites.31600:23:43,260 –> 00:23:48,199Open the Bible is supported by donations from our listeners, and we are very thankful for31700:23:48,199 –> 00:23:49,199that.31800:23:49,199 –> 00:23:53,599Now if you would like to be amongst our supporters, here’s Open the Bible’s Amanda Cunningham31900:23:53,599 –> 00:23:57,420to tell you about our free gift offer for this month.32000:23:57,420 –> 00:24:02,540As we head toward Easter, it’s such a natural opportunity to share the hope of the gospel32100:24:02,540 –> 00:24:08,099with someone we care about so this month at Open the Bible UK, we’re giving away an Easter32200:24:08,099 –> 00:24:11,140bundle designed to help you do just that.32300:24:11,140 –> 00:24:18,040It includes two copies of our brand new graphic novel, based on Heaven How I Got Here.32400:24:18,040 –> 00:24:24,140The story of the thief on the cross as well as an NIV outreach bible.32500:24:24,140 –> 00:24:29,479Our graphic novel identify ideal for young people and the Outreach Bible would be perfect32600:24:29,479 –> 00:24:32,979to give to an adult friend or family member.32700:24:32,979 –> 00:24:38,739It’s our free thank you gift when you give a one off donation of £50 or more or set32800:24:38,739 –> 00:24:43,260up a new direct debit of £5 a month or more.32900:24:43,520 –> 00:24:48,040Please remember as always to include your name and address so we know where to33000:24:48,040 –> 00:24:49,400send your free gift to33100:24:49,400 –> 00:24:55,599Thank’s Amanda, and thank you for considering beginning to support Open the Bible financially33200:24:55,599 –> 00:24:57,060this month.33300:24:57,060 –> 00:25:05,319Full details, terms and conditions and you can give online at our website openthebible.org.uk33400:25:05,319 –> 00:25:10,119For Open the Bible and for Pastor Colin Smith I’m David Pick, thanks for being with us33500:25:10,119 –> 00:25:13,859and we look forward to you joining us again next time on Open the Bible.