1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:03,040 Well, will you please open your Bible and the book of Psalms 2 00:00:03,040 –> 00:00:04,980 as we return to our series today, 3 00:00:04,980 –> 00:00:07,340 Moving In The Right Direction? 4 00:00:07,340 –> 00:00:11,600 And today our title is Moving From Pain to Peace. 5 00:00:11,600 –> 00:00:14,120 And we’re going to look at three psalms all together 6 00:00:14,120 –> 00:00:15,980 that really trace this journey, 7 00:00:15,980 –> 00:00:20,980 they are Psalms 129, Psalm 130, and Psalm 131. 8 00:00:23,040 –> 00:00:25,719 I’d like to begin by reading these to you. 9 00:00:25,719 –> 00:00:28,100 I think as we read them together, 10 00:00:28,139 –> 00:00:30,459 you’ll notice that there is some definite movement 11 00:00:30,459 –> 00:00:32,380 that runs through them. 12 00:00:32,380 –> 00:00:36,840 Psalm 129 is clearly marked by a lot of anger. 13 00:00:36,840 –> 00:00:40,639 Psalm 130 has some marks of anxiety. 14 00:00:40,639 –> 00:00:45,419 And Psalm 131 is marked by acceptance. 15 00:00:45,419 –> 00:00:48,619 And I think these things will be clear as we read. 16 00:00:48,619 –> 00:00:52,240 So let’s follow the path from pain to peace 17 00:00:52,240 –> 00:00:55,080 as we look together in the word of God. 18 00:00:55,080 –> 00:00:57,240 You’ll notice again that all three of these psalms 19 00:00:57,299 –> 00:01:00,000 are entitled A Song of Ascents, 20 00:01:00,000 –> 00:01:03,279 they’re part of this group of psalms that we’re following 21 00:01:03,279 –> 00:01:05,199 as we think about what it means to move 22 00:01:05,199 –> 00:01:08,540 in the right direction in our lives. 23 00:01:08,540 –> 00:01:10,959 Beginning then with Psalm 129, 24 00:01:10,959 –> 00:01:13,779 let us hear the word of God. 25 00:01:16,400 –> 00:01:20,220 They have greatly oppressed me from my youth. 26 00:01:20,220 –> 00:01:25,099 Let Israel say they have greatly oppressed me from my youth 27 00:01:25,120 –> 00:01:29,279 but they have not gained the victory over me. 28 00:01:29,279 –> 00:01:34,279 Plowmen have plowed my back and made their furrows long 29 00:01:35,139 –> 00:01:37,599 but the Lord is righteous. 30 00:01:37,599 –> 00:01:40,459 He has cut me free from the cords of the wicked. 31 00:01:41,480 –> 00:01:45,239 May all who hate Zion be turned back in shame. 32 00:01:45,239 –> 00:01:47,519 May they be like grass on the roof 33 00:01:47,519 –> 00:01:49,760 which withers before it can grow. 34 00:01:49,760 –> 00:01:52,459 With it the reaper cannot fill his hands 35 00:01:52,459 –> 00:01:55,099 nor the one who gathers fill his arms. 36 00:01:55,099 –> 00:01:58,580 May those who pass by not see the blessing of the Lord 37 00:01:58,580 –> 00:01:59,400 be upon you. 38 00:01:59,400 –> 00:02:01,239 We bless you in the name of the Lord. 39 00:02:03,459 –> 00:02:06,500 Out of the depths I cry to you oh Lord. 40 00:02:06,500 –> 00:02:10,779 Oh Lord hear my voice, let your ears be attentive 41 00:02:10,779 –> 00:02:12,979 to my cry for mercy. 42 00:02:14,259 –> 00:02:16,720 If you oh Lord kept a record of sins 43 00:02:16,720 –> 00:02:18,759 oh Lord who could stand? 44 00:02:19,699 –> 00:02:23,100 But with you there is forgiveness, 45 00:02:23,100 –> 00:02:25,639 therefore you are feared. 46 00:02:27,580 –> 00:02:31,559 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, 47 00:02:31,559 –> 00:02:34,820 and in his word I put my hope. 48 00:02:34,820 –> 00:02:37,940 My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait 49 00:02:37,940 –> 00:02:41,259 for the morning more than watchmen wait for the morning. 50 00:02:41,259 –> 00:02:45,100 Oh Israel, put your hope in the Lord 51 00:02:45,839 –> 00:02:48,800 for with the Lord is unfailing love 52 00:02:48,800 –> 00:02:51,320 and with him is full redemption. 53 00:02:51,320 –> 00:02:56,059 He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. 54 00:02:57,979 –> 00:03:00,919 My heart is not proud, O Lord. 55 00:03:00,919 –> 00:03:02,720 My eyes are not haughty. 56 00:03:03,619 –> 00:03:06,259 I do not concern myself with great matters 57 00:03:06,259 –> 00:03:09,020 or things too wonderful for me. 58 00:03:10,479 –> 00:03:14,460 But I have stilled and quieted my soul 59 00:03:15,419 –> 00:03:18,860 like a weaned child with its mother, 60 00:03:18,860 –> 00:03:22,139 like a weaned child is my soul within me. 61 00:03:22,139 –> 00:03:26,059 Oh, Israel, put your hope in the Lord 62 00:03:27,380 –> 00:03:30,880 both now and for evermore. 63 00:03:32,860 –> 00:03:34,380 Do you know, it never ceases to amaze me 64 00:03:34,380 –> 00:03:37,059 how the scriptures speak to the whole of life. 65 00:03:38,220 –> 00:03:41,339 And they always bring help and hope and healing 66 00:03:41,339 –> 00:03:43,820 and light and understanding. 67 00:03:45,559 –> 00:03:49,860 All of us experience pain in some ways 68 00:03:49,860 –> 00:03:51,800 at some points in our lives. 69 00:03:52,940 –> 00:03:57,800 And when you do, I think you’ll find these three Psalms 70 00:03:57,800 –> 00:04:01,160 to be profoundly helpful, what they do 71 00:04:01,160 –> 00:04:03,360 is they really chart a course 72 00:04:03,360 –> 00:04:06,199 through the experience of suffering. 73 00:04:06,199 –> 00:04:09,240 If you think of pain as being a dark valley, 74 00:04:09,240 –> 00:04:12,600 these three Psalms show us the path 75 00:04:12,600 –> 00:04:15,080 that takes us through it. 76 00:04:15,080 –> 00:04:18,519 They do that by giving us three very simple pictures 77 00:04:18,519 –> 00:04:22,119 of a believer’s progress through the valley of suffering. 78 00:04:22,119 –> 00:04:23,619 If you can get the pictures in your mind, 79 00:04:23,619 –> 00:04:25,140 I think they’ll stay with you, 80 00:04:25,140 –> 00:04:27,519 and I hope that they will be helpful. 81 00:04:27,519 –> 00:04:30,799 First, there’s the picture of the open wound 82 00:04:30,799 –> 00:04:35,100 in Psalm 129 and verse three, notice that, 83 00:04:35,100 –> 00:04:38,779 plowman have plowed my back and made their furrows long. 84 00:04:38,779 –> 00:04:40,179 So that’s the first picture 85 00:04:40,179 –> 00:04:41,720 that we’re going to think about today, 86 00:04:41,760 –> 00:04:44,239 an open wound. 87 00:04:44,239 –> 00:04:47,359 The second is the picture of an anguished cry, 88 00:04:47,359 –> 00:04:49,720 Psalm 130 and verse one, 89 00:04:49,720 –> 00:04:52,899 literally this is a scream in the dark, 90 00:04:52,899 –> 00:04:56,959 oh, out of the depths I cry to you, oh Lord. 91 00:04:56,959 –> 00:05:00,119 So an opened wound, an anguished cry, 92 00:05:00,119 –> 00:05:03,299 and then in Psalm 131, the third of these pictures, 93 00:05:03,299 –> 00:05:07,679 the weaned child, verse two of Psalm 131, 94 00:05:07,679 –> 00:05:10,679 I have stilled and quieted my soul 95 00:05:10,679 –> 00:05:13,880 like a weaned child with its mother. 96 00:05:13,880 –> 00:05:17,160 Now, these three pictures really map for us 97 00:05:17,160 –> 00:05:22,160 three distinct stages in the journey from pain to peace, 98 00:05:22,779 –> 00:05:25,600 and the connection between them really came home to me 99 00:05:25,600 –> 00:05:27,760 when I was thinking about an incident 100 00:05:27,760 –> 00:05:31,720 that happened in our home just a few weeks ago. 101 00:05:32,799 –> 00:05:35,119 We had the pleasure of having my wife’s sister 102 00:05:35,119 –> 00:05:37,839 along with her husband and their two little girls 103 00:05:37,839 –> 00:05:39,559 with us over Christmas. 104 00:05:39,600 –> 00:05:43,000 They’re two girls, Tanya, who is six years old, 105 00:05:43,000 –> 00:05:46,040 and Megan, who is just three. 106 00:05:46,040 –> 00:05:47,880 And they were here for a couple of weeks 107 00:05:47,880 –> 00:05:51,380 and we had a marvelous time over Christmas with them 108 00:05:51,380 –> 00:05:56,179 until the night before they were due to fly back to Britain. 109 00:05:57,200 –> 00:06:00,760 We were all at home that evening and we had finished eating 110 00:06:00,760 –> 00:06:02,839 and the adults were upstairs still sitting, 111 00:06:02,839 –> 00:06:04,140 talking around the table. 112 00:06:04,140 –> 00:06:04,980 You know how it is, 113 00:06:04,980 –> 00:06:07,260 and the kids had gone downstairs to play. 114 00:06:08,019 –> 00:06:10,339 Then all of a sudden, and I’ll never forget it, 115 00:06:10,339 –> 00:06:13,579 we heard this loud thud, 116 00:06:13,579 –> 00:06:16,140 the kind that parents always dread hearing. 117 00:06:16,140 –> 00:06:20,160 And it was immediately followed by the loudest of screams. 118 00:06:20,160 –> 00:06:23,679 And we rushed downstairs to find that Tanya had tripped, 119 00:06:23,679 –> 00:06:27,040 she had rushed forward, she had tripped over her own feet 120 00:06:27,040 –> 00:06:32,040 and she had fallen forward headlong onto a glass table 121 00:06:33,480 –> 00:06:36,440 which, mercifully, had not shattered. 122 00:06:36,779 –> 00:06:38,820 But the result was that her teeth 123 00:06:38,820 –> 00:06:40,720 had cut deep into her lip 124 00:06:40,720 –> 00:06:45,440 and immediately we knew that she was in very serious trouble. 125 00:06:45,440 –> 00:06:48,779 Well, my brother-in-law used to work at a leisure center 126 00:06:48,779 –> 00:06:51,079 and has been well trained in accident and emergency. 127 00:06:51,079 –> 00:06:53,119 I tell you I was impressed big time 128 00:06:53,119 –> 00:06:55,640 with his ability of knowing what to do in a crisis. 129 00:06:55,640 –> 00:06:58,019 He got the bleeding under control 130 00:06:58,019 –> 00:07:00,600 and then we all headed down to the hospital. 131 00:07:00,600 –> 00:07:04,079 Got to tell you, the folks there were absolutely magnificent. 132 00:07:04,079 –> 00:07:05,679 They did a wonderful job. 133 00:07:06,640 –> 00:07:09,720 Tanya needed 16 stitches 134 00:07:09,720 –> 00:07:13,040 and the dental surgeon removed the four 135 00:07:13,040 –> 00:07:14,559 of her front top teeth 136 00:07:14,559 –> 00:07:18,779 that had been displaced by the impact of the fall. 137 00:07:18,779 –> 00:07:21,000 It’s not easy to know how to eat 138 00:07:21,000 –> 00:07:23,480 when you are six years old 139 00:07:23,480 –> 00:07:28,040 and you have 16 stitches newly put in your mouth 140 00:07:28,040 –> 00:07:32,040 and so we were all very thankful for smoothies. 141 00:07:32,040 –> 00:07:33,720 This is today’s hot tip, 142 00:07:33,760 –> 00:07:37,720 which was the one thing that went down really rather well. 143 00:07:37,720 –> 00:07:39,640 Now, think about these three pictures. 144 00:07:39,640 –> 00:07:42,140 One, the open wound. 145 00:07:43,160 –> 00:07:46,299 None of us actually saw what happened to Tanya. 146 00:07:47,200 –> 00:07:48,660 It happened in secret. 147 00:07:49,920 –> 00:07:53,220 Something terrible happened that was hidden from us 148 00:07:53,220 –> 00:07:56,799 but the result of it was an open wound. 149 00:07:56,799 –> 00:07:59,200 Second, the anguished cry. 150 00:07:59,200 –> 00:08:01,320 First, we knew about this was the scream 151 00:08:01,320 –> 00:08:02,700 that came from our living room, 152 00:08:02,739 –> 00:08:06,000 someone was in trouble and desperately needed help. 153 00:08:07,380 –> 00:08:10,100 And then third, the weaned child. 154 00:08:11,140 –> 00:08:14,140 Last direct picture I have in my mind of Tanya 155 00:08:14,140 –> 00:08:16,100 was at the airport where we all sat down 156 00:08:16,100 –> 00:08:16,980 before saying goodbye 157 00:08:16,980 –> 00:08:19,459 and Tanya was eating her smoothie 158 00:08:19,459 –> 00:08:21,980 before going through security control, 159 00:08:21,980 –> 00:08:25,459 really very calm, hand in hand with her mom and dad. 160 00:08:25,459 –> 00:08:29,019 And a few days later, the family emailed us this picture 161 00:08:29,019 –> 00:08:32,020 which we were so relieved to see. 162 00:08:32,020 –> 00:08:34,380 We couldn’t believe how much what had been 163 00:08:34,380 –> 00:08:36,179 really massive swelling on her lip 164 00:08:36,179 –> 00:08:39,380 had gone down within a very, very few days. 165 00:08:39,380 –> 00:08:41,900 And knowing that her new front teeth would come in 166 00:08:41,900 –> 00:08:44,159 at least within a reasonable period of time, 167 00:08:44,159 –> 00:08:48,659 we were relieved to know that she was content 168 00:08:48,659 –> 00:08:51,739 and at peace and well on the way to recovery. 169 00:08:51,739 –> 00:08:55,659 The open wound, the anguished cry, 170 00:08:56,599 –> 00:08:59,460 the weaned child. 171 00:08:59,460 –> 00:09:03,619 Now that’s the path that we will chart 172 00:09:03,619 –> 00:09:05,419 through the valley of suffering. 173 00:09:06,900 –> 00:09:08,200 Now, I hope you have your Bible open 174 00:09:08,200 –> 00:09:10,500 because you want to know where this is in your Bible 175 00:09:10,500 –> 00:09:12,780 and to feel that it’s gone into you 176 00:09:12,780 –> 00:09:14,659 because you will find this deeply helpful 177 00:09:14,659 –> 00:09:16,140 when you come to the dark valley 178 00:09:16,140 –> 00:09:19,520 and whatever shape or form that is in your life. 179 00:09:19,520 –> 00:09:23,039 First then, Psalm 129, the open wound. 180 00:09:23,039 –> 00:09:24,179 Now the whole of this Psalm really 181 00:09:24,179 –> 00:09:27,020 is about open wounds and painful experiences. 182 00:09:27,020 –> 00:09:27,859 Notice it begins, 183 00:09:27,859 –> 00:09:30,539 they have greatly oppressed me from my youth. 184 00:09:30,539 –> 00:09:35,539 Let Israel say they have greatly oppressed me from my youth. 185 00:09:35,580 –> 00:09:37,380 So this is primarily a statement 186 00:09:37,380 –> 00:09:39,859 of the suffering of Israel as a nation, 187 00:09:39,859 –> 00:09:43,719 which of course has been extraordinary over the years. 188 00:09:43,719 –> 00:09:45,659 They have oppressed me from my youth. 189 00:09:45,659 –> 00:09:48,260 That’s obviously a reference to the time in Egypt 190 00:09:48,260 –> 00:09:51,539 where Israel experienced the first Holocaust 191 00:09:51,539 –> 00:09:53,979 in the murder of infant children. 192 00:09:54,940 –> 00:09:58,559 Israel was a nation conceived in slavery 193 00:09:59,640 –> 00:10:03,559 and then born homeless in a desert. 194 00:10:04,919 –> 00:10:06,900 Derek Kidner has a marvelous comment here. 195 00:10:06,900 –> 00:10:09,659 He says, most other nations look back 196 00:10:09,659 –> 00:10:12,340 on what they have achieved. 197 00:10:12,340 –> 00:10:14,979 Israel reflects here on what she has survived. 198 00:10:16,020 –> 00:10:18,099 Maybe true of some of us. 199 00:10:18,099 –> 00:10:21,179 A lot of folks bragging about what they’ve achieved. 200 00:10:21,200 –> 00:10:24,380 Maybe some of us look back on what we have survived. 201 00:10:24,380 –> 00:10:25,500 It’s a wonderful thing. 202 00:10:26,559 –> 00:10:29,580 You see the marvelous statement of survival in verse two, 203 00:10:29,580 –> 00:10:31,900 they have greatly oppressed me from my youth 204 00:10:31,900 –> 00:10:34,900 but they have not gained the victory over me. 205 00:10:34,900 –> 00:10:36,020 That’s marvelous. 206 00:10:36,880 –> 00:10:40,380 Then we have this extraordinary picture 207 00:10:40,380 –> 00:10:42,619 of suffering in verse three. 208 00:10:42,619 –> 00:10:47,619 Plowmen have plowed my back and made their furrows long. 209 00:10:48,760 –> 00:10:49,979 Now you see what this picture is. 210 00:10:49,979 –> 00:10:51,619 If you imagine an old fashioned plow, 211 00:10:51,619 –> 00:10:53,340 you’ve got the animal at the front. 212 00:10:53,340 –> 00:10:56,780 You’ve got the guiding handles and the blade of the plow 213 00:10:56,780 –> 00:10:58,659 that cuts the furrow in the ground. 214 00:10:58,659 –> 00:11:01,140 And behind that you have the farmer 215 00:11:01,140 –> 00:11:05,320 who is guiding the plow so that it makes the furrow 216 00:11:05,320 –> 00:11:07,080 in the right place in the ground. 217 00:11:07,080 –> 00:11:08,979 And he walks along behind the animal 218 00:11:08,979 –> 00:11:10,760 that is pulling this sharpened blade 219 00:11:10,760 –> 00:11:13,820 that is digging into the ground and plowing a furrow. 220 00:11:14,859 –> 00:11:16,859 And what the psalmist says is this. 221 00:11:18,140 –> 00:11:19,940 Do you know what it feels like to me? 222 00:11:20,599 –> 00:11:24,500 It feels like I’m lying face down on the ground 223 00:11:25,880 –> 00:11:29,099 and the plowman is coming and guiding the blade 224 00:11:29,099 –> 00:11:33,140 right over my back and plowing it up like a furrow. 225 00:11:34,739 –> 00:11:37,419 Not only is he plowing up my back, 226 00:11:37,419 –> 00:11:42,260 but he’s plowing long, long furrows 227 00:11:42,260 –> 00:11:43,859 up the whole length of me. 228 00:11:45,820 –> 00:11:48,340 Well, that’s enough description, isn’t it? 229 00:11:48,340 –> 00:11:51,960 I mean, it makes you wince even to think about it. 230 00:11:53,960 –> 00:11:58,960 This is an extraordinary picture of great suffering 231 00:12:00,340 –> 00:12:04,479 and prolonged pain that clearly results 232 00:12:04,479 –> 00:12:08,219 in deep and open wounds. 233 00:12:10,840 –> 00:12:13,080 And some of you, no doubt, are saying right now, 234 00:12:13,080 –> 00:12:16,179 I’ve been there, I’ve been there. 235 00:12:19,039 –> 00:12:22,140 Now, I think it’s significant that the psalmist says, 236 00:12:22,140 –> 00:12:24,760 they have greatly oppressed me from my youth. 237 00:12:24,760 –> 00:12:28,320 He’s talking obviously about pain that goes back for years 238 00:12:29,780 –> 00:12:33,479 and maybe there are open wounds in your life 239 00:12:33,479 –> 00:12:35,739 that have come through things that happened, 240 00:12:35,739 –> 00:12:40,739 maybe unseen, in secret that happened years ago 241 00:12:43,099 –> 00:12:45,619 and they ploughed you up. 242 00:12:49,159 –> 00:12:51,119 I think it’s significant that he talks about 243 00:12:51,119 –> 00:12:53,840 the length of the furrows. 244 00:12:53,840 –> 00:12:56,840 They have ploughed, not just deep furrows, but long furrows. 245 00:12:58,280 –> 00:13:02,039 Sometimes we endure pressure and strain and stress 246 00:13:02,039 –> 00:13:04,440 in life for a time and we handle it well 247 00:13:04,440 –> 00:13:09,400 but then eventually the sheer relentlessness of it all 248 00:13:09,400 –> 00:13:12,260 causes open wounds to break out. 249 00:13:14,619 –> 00:13:18,179 Now it seems that the psalmist has come to the end 250 00:13:18,219 –> 00:13:21,080 of the particular trauma that he’s describing 251 00:13:21,080 –> 00:13:22,979 when he writes these words. 252 00:13:22,979 –> 00:13:25,119 If you look at verse four, it says, 253 00:13:25,119 –> 00:13:29,419 the Lord is righteous, he has cut me free 254 00:13:29,419 –> 00:13:31,219 from the cords of the wicked. 255 00:13:31,219 –> 00:13:35,320 So again, if you imagine the picture of this wicked ploughman 256 00:13:35,320 –> 00:13:39,859 who is causing this agony ploughing over the psalmist’s back. 257 00:13:39,859 –> 00:13:42,619 He says, the Lord has cut the cords of the wicked. 258 00:13:42,619 –> 00:13:45,400 He’s referring to the cords you see that were used 259 00:13:45,460 –> 00:13:48,880 in this wicked way tying the animal to the plow 260 00:13:48,880 –> 00:13:51,159 and the cords are cut, so the animal moves on, 261 00:13:51,159 –> 00:13:52,880 but the blade is left still. 262 00:13:53,960 –> 00:13:57,280 So the ploughing up that he has endured has now ceased. 263 00:13:59,359 –> 00:14:03,719 And so the psalmist gets up off the ground 264 00:14:03,719 –> 00:14:07,359 where he’s been lying and his wounds are open 265 00:14:08,719 –> 00:14:10,020 and agonizing. 266 00:14:11,239 –> 00:14:12,539 And what happens then? 267 00:14:13,539 –> 00:14:16,260 He’s angry. 268 00:14:16,260 –> 00:14:18,260 See, the Bible’s so wonderful, isn’t it? 269 00:14:19,340 –> 00:14:23,340 Speaks to your life and to mine just as our lives are. 270 00:14:23,340 –> 00:14:26,820 If someone ploughs you up, then when you get up, 271 00:14:26,820 –> 00:14:28,780 you’re going to be angry too. 272 00:14:30,659 –> 00:14:32,619 You see, it says that in verse 5, 273 00:14:32,619 –> 00:14:34,380 may they be turned back in shame, 274 00:14:34,380 –> 00:14:36,200 may they be like grass that withers, 275 00:14:36,200 –> 00:14:39,099 may they not experience the blessing of the Lord. 276 00:14:40,020 –> 00:14:43,500 Now, think with me for a moment 277 00:14:43,500 –> 00:14:45,580 about the wonderful significance 278 00:14:45,580 –> 00:14:50,359 of God putting this Psalm in the Bible. 279 00:14:50,359 –> 00:14:55,359 God has given us a Psalm written by a man with open wounds. 280 00:15:00,599 –> 00:15:05,599 The Holy Spirit inspired a man with open wounds 281 00:15:05,900 –> 00:15:08,679 to be a communicator of the word of God. 282 00:15:09,419 –> 00:15:13,859 I find that wonderfully helpful. 283 00:15:15,400 –> 00:15:17,260 You see, it’s easy to get the idea 284 00:15:17,260 –> 00:15:18,960 that wherever there are open wounds, 285 00:15:18,960 –> 00:15:20,780 this must mean that God is distant. 286 00:15:22,039 –> 00:15:25,599 But what we find here is that God is speaking 287 00:15:25,599 –> 00:15:27,500 through open wounds, 288 00:15:27,500 –> 00:15:29,599 that through the Psalmist’s opens wounds, 289 00:15:29,599 –> 00:15:32,400 the ministry of the Spirit comes to us today. 290 00:15:33,739 –> 00:15:36,619 That God is present in the pain, 291 00:15:36,619 –> 00:15:41,340 that God is present in the open wounds of your life. 292 00:15:42,940 –> 00:15:45,380 And you know, in a broken world, 293 00:15:46,340 –> 00:15:50,799 it may just be the open wounds of your life 294 00:15:51,900 –> 00:15:55,400 that put you in a position to minister to others. 295 00:15:55,400 –> 00:15:57,659 Jesus ministered in His pain, 296 00:15:57,659 –> 00:15:59,900 from His pain, through His pain. 297 00:16:00,960 –> 00:16:02,479 So did the apostle Paul. 298 00:16:02,479 –> 00:16:07,440 Open wounds don’t make you useless to Christ. 299 00:16:09,520 –> 00:16:11,260 They may be the very key 300 00:16:12,320 –> 00:16:15,159 to how He will use you most distinctly 301 00:16:16,200 –> 00:16:17,400 in life and ministry. 302 00:16:20,200 –> 00:16:22,539 Now, I think it’s also very significant 303 00:16:22,539 –> 00:16:24,099 that God is clearly present, 304 00:16:24,099 –> 00:16:26,200 the Holy Spirit is present, 305 00:16:26,200 –> 00:16:28,739 speaking while this man is angry. 306 00:16:29,960 –> 00:16:31,559 Now, there are always discussions 307 00:16:31,640 –> 00:16:34,599 about how much of the anger in the Psalms 308 00:16:34,599 –> 00:16:38,179 is righteous anger and how much of it 309 00:16:38,179 –> 00:16:41,979 is the kind of anger that we need to get over. 310 00:16:41,979 –> 00:16:44,580 Well, you can make your own decision here, 311 00:16:44,580 –> 00:16:46,239 which is really a nice way of saying 312 00:16:46,239 –> 00:16:47,619 I don’t really know. 313 00:16:47,619 –> 00:16:49,599 But either way, I want to suggest to you 314 00:16:49,599 –> 00:16:51,440 that the significant thing here 315 00:16:51,440 –> 00:16:53,320 is that this man is angry 316 00:16:53,320 –> 00:16:57,080 and that God is with him in his anger. 317 00:16:57,080 –> 00:16:59,359 Thank God for that. 318 00:16:59,359 –> 00:17:02,039 If we need all our wounds healed 319 00:17:02,039 –> 00:17:04,540 before we can know the presence of God 320 00:17:04,540 –> 00:17:07,119 or be useful to God, then God help us. 321 00:17:08,400 –> 00:17:10,479 And if we need to have dealt with all our anger 322 00:17:10,479 –> 00:17:12,900 before we can ever know God’s help, 323 00:17:12,900 –> 00:17:14,780 what hope will there be for any? 324 00:17:16,060 –> 00:17:20,439 You can find God in the open wounds of your life. 325 00:17:20,439 –> 00:17:23,500 He will meet you there, he reaches out to you there. 326 00:17:24,719 –> 00:17:27,599 And the psalmist does precisely the right thing 327 00:17:27,599 –> 00:17:31,079 for a wounded person, he pours out his wounds 328 00:17:31,079 –> 00:17:33,040 in the presence of God. 329 00:17:33,040 –> 00:17:37,800 That’s where the path from pain to peace begins. 330 00:17:41,020 –> 00:17:42,479 And if you’re finding it difficult 331 00:17:42,479 –> 00:17:44,400 to do that yourself alone, 332 00:17:44,400 –> 00:17:47,280 then find someone else who can help you do it. 333 00:17:48,300 –> 00:17:51,079 Someone you can talk to about these wounds 334 00:17:51,079 –> 00:17:54,099 who will one, listen and then pray, 335 00:17:55,060 –> 00:17:58,859 who’ll listen to you as you’re able to express that 336 00:17:58,859 –> 00:18:01,300 but then will help you to bring the wounds 337 00:18:01,300 –> 00:18:04,540 and the anger that resulted from them to God. 338 00:18:06,400 –> 00:18:07,819 And, you know, if you should be as it were 339 00:18:07,819 –> 00:18:09,640 on the other side of that conversation 340 00:18:09,640 –> 00:18:11,599 and should be so privileged that someone 341 00:18:11,599 –> 00:18:14,359 should come to you and should begin to share deep wounds, 342 00:18:14,359 –> 00:18:16,780 be a good listener. 343 00:18:18,119 –> 00:18:20,319 And don’t just be a good listener. 344 00:18:21,319 –> 00:18:24,599 Try, in the most sensitive way possible, 345 00:18:24,599 –> 00:18:27,920 to help be the very one who will facilitate 346 00:18:27,920 –> 00:18:29,660 bringing that to God 347 00:18:31,040 –> 00:18:33,119 because he’s the only one who can reach us 348 00:18:34,060 –> 00:18:35,060 and heal us there. 349 00:18:37,119 –> 00:18:40,479 Now that’s the first picture, open wounds. 350 00:18:41,719 –> 00:18:45,959 Don’t let your mind run with the idea 351 00:18:45,959 –> 00:18:47,959 that this makes you useless to God. 352 00:18:48,959 –> 00:18:51,900 It may actually be the very place 353 00:18:53,119 –> 00:18:55,359 from which God gives you ministry. 354 00:18:58,000 –> 00:18:59,959 Second, the anguished cry. 355 00:18:59,959 –> 00:19:02,079 Three pictures that are taking us through the valley. 356 00:19:02,079 –> 00:19:03,560 First the open wound. 357 00:19:03,560 –> 00:19:05,719 Second the anguished cry. 358 00:19:05,719 –> 00:19:09,640 Psalm 130, out of the depths, I cry to you, 359 00:19:09,640 –> 00:19:11,719 oh Lord, oh Lord hear my voice. 360 00:19:11,719 –> 00:19:14,680 Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. 361 00:19:14,680 –> 00:19:15,780 Now notice what he says next, 362 00:19:15,780 –> 00:19:18,760 if you, oh Lord, kept a record of sins, 363 00:19:19,780 –> 00:19:22,020 oh Lord, who could stand? 364 00:19:22,020 –> 00:19:23,660 Now you’ll see that between these two psalms 365 00:19:23,660 –> 00:19:25,459 there’s been a movement of focus. 366 00:19:25,459 –> 00:19:28,540 The first is focused around the theme 367 00:19:28,540 –> 00:19:31,780 of pain, suffering, open wounds. 368 00:19:31,780 –> 00:19:34,459 But Psalm 130 moves on from there 369 00:19:34,459 –> 00:19:37,500 and focuses particularly on the matter of sins. 370 00:19:37,500 –> 00:19:39,099 You’ll see that runs right through 371 00:19:39,099 –> 00:19:43,260 and in fact is the last word of the psalm in verse 8 372 00:19:43,260 –> 00:19:47,260 He will redeem Israel from all their sins. 373 00:19:48,660 –> 00:19:50,900 Now I think that this is very significant 374 00:19:50,900 –> 00:19:55,859 because it explodes the myth of the innocent sufferer. 375 00:19:57,500 –> 00:19:59,140 You see there has only ever been 376 00:19:59,140 –> 00:20:02,420 one truly innocent sufferer in all the history of the world. 377 00:20:03,180 –> 00:20:05,739 That of course is Jesus Christ. 378 00:20:05,739 –> 00:20:08,420 Apart from Him there is no such thing 379 00:20:08,420 –> 00:20:11,959 as truly innocent suffering. 380 00:20:14,219 –> 00:20:17,180 Now we talk a lot of course about innocent suffering 381 00:20:17,180 –> 00:20:22,180 but instinctively we know that there are deeper realities 382 00:20:23,140 –> 00:20:25,099 wherever there’s trouble. 383 00:20:25,099 –> 00:20:27,420 Just the other Sunday morning, 384 00:20:27,420 –> 00:20:28,979 I had the privilege of talking with someone 385 00:20:28,979 –> 00:20:30,540 who was visiting our church. 386 00:20:30,540 –> 00:20:32,500 I think it was that first time that they were here. 387 00:20:32,500 –> 00:20:36,099 He told me in just a very few seconds his story. 388 00:20:36,939 –> 00:20:40,420 It was a story of extraordinary tragedy and loss 389 00:20:41,420 –> 00:20:43,819 and my heart really, really went out to him. 390 00:20:45,300 –> 00:20:47,300 He told me in just a few seconds 391 00:20:47,300 –> 00:20:49,400 and then he got to the one question 392 00:20:49,400 –> 00:20:51,719 that he really wanted to ask and it was this. 393 00:20:53,020 –> 00:20:57,040 Pastor, do you think that God is punishing me? 394 00:20:59,739 –> 00:21:04,739 Now, which of us has not at some time asked that question? 395 00:21:05,579 –> 00:21:06,400 Okay? 396 00:21:10,000 –> 00:21:12,699 See, when we suffer, frankly that is the most natural 397 00:21:12,699 –> 00:21:13,819 question in the world. 398 00:21:15,699 –> 00:21:18,839 None of us has a completely clear conscience. 399 00:21:19,739 –> 00:21:22,800 We all know that we are not what God calls us to be, 400 00:21:22,800 –> 00:21:26,300 and in normal life we live with this tension. 401 00:21:26,300 –> 00:21:28,939 But then when something goes terribly wrong, 402 00:21:28,939 –> 00:21:32,900 that question rears its ugly head and we can’t put it down. 403 00:21:32,900 –> 00:21:37,780 Is this the consequence of something I have done? 404 00:21:41,300 –> 00:21:45,699 And let’s face it, it’s hard to avoid sin at any time 405 00:21:45,699 –> 00:21:49,859 in your life, but it is especially hard to avoid sin 406 00:21:49,859 –> 00:21:51,060 when you’re suffering. 407 00:21:53,780 –> 00:21:55,699 When you suffer, you become angry. 408 00:21:56,640 –> 00:21:58,180 Anger in itself isn’t wrong. 409 00:21:58,180 –> 00:22:01,839 God says to us, in your anger do not sin. 410 00:22:02,780 –> 00:22:04,880 I think the truth is that in our anger 411 00:22:04,880 –> 00:22:08,000 most of us sin quite a bit, actually. 412 00:22:10,060 –> 00:22:11,839 We slide into self-pity. 413 00:22:13,280 –> 00:22:15,079 We harbor resentment. 414 00:22:16,140 –> 00:22:17,800 We rail against God. 415 00:22:19,160 –> 00:22:22,119 We sin in our suffering. 416 00:22:24,439 –> 00:22:27,000 And of course, that makes the whole problem worse 417 00:22:27,000 –> 00:22:30,739 because if you or I were to go through suffering 418 00:22:30,739 –> 00:22:35,380 knowing that we were absolutely right in every respect, 419 00:22:35,380 –> 00:22:37,540 then it would be a little easier. 420 00:22:37,540 –> 00:22:39,719 But the truth is that we are not. 421 00:22:41,839 –> 00:22:44,599 So God seems to be distant in our suffering 422 00:22:44,599 –> 00:22:47,459 and sometimes we wonder in the darkest places 423 00:22:47,459 –> 00:22:50,719 if we are really Christian at all. 424 00:22:51,900 –> 00:22:54,540 And I think most of us at some point of our lives 425 00:22:54,540 –> 00:22:58,079 will say, been there, been there. 426 00:23:01,560 –> 00:23:05,140 Now this psalm is good news 427 00:23:05,140 –> 00:23:08,780 for the sufferer who screams out with the anguished cry. 428 00:23:09,780 –> 00:23:12,819 Look at verse four, this is one to underline, 429 00:23:12,819 –> 00:23:15,020 circle, yellow, highlight, and all the rest of it 430 00:23:15,020 –> 00:23:18,099 in your Bible, but get it into your mind and into your soul. 431 00:23:18,099 –> 00:23:23,099 Verse four, with you, he says to God, 432 00:23:23,339 –> 00:23:26,420 there is forgiveness. 433 00:23:26,739 –> 00:23:31,739 With you there is forgiveness. 434 00:23:35,260 –> 00:23:39,459 Now I want to speak this word of hope 435 00:23:40,280 –> 00:23:42,939 to us as a congregation today. 436 00:23:42,939 –> 00:23:47,079 With you, God, there is forgiveness. 437 00:23:48,040 –> 00:23:51,140 Listen, there are some situations 438 00:23:51,140 –> 00:23:53,819 in which your wife may not forgive you. 439 00:23:53,819 –> 00:23:55,739 Your wife may not forgive you. 440 00:23:56,619 –> 00:23:58,479 Your husband may not forgive you. 441 00:23:59,859 –> 00:24:02,260 Your children may not forgive you. 442 00:24:02,260 –> 00:24:04,640 The state may not forgive you. 443 00:24:04,640 –> 00:24:06,939 Your employer may not forgive you. 444 00:24:08,140 –> 00:24:09,900 People in the church may not forgive you. 445 00:24:09,900 –> 00:24:13,560 But there is forgiveness with God. 446 00:24:16,079 –> 00:24:19,939 Here’s the psalmist, with all the regrets of his life, 447 00:24:21,400 –> 00:24:23,060 and with all the things that he wishes 448 00:24:23,060 –> 00:24:26,199 he could turn the clock back and rerun and foolish mistakes 449 00:24:26,199 –> 00:24:29,300 that he wishes he had never got himself involved in. 450 00:24:30,400 –> 00:24:32,479 And he knows he can’t change the past, 451 00:24:32,479 –> 00:24:34,959 but he can look up into the face of God 452 00:24:34,959 –> 00:24:38,380 and he can say, with you there is forgiveness. 453 00:24:40,439 –> 00:24:41,339 It’s wonderful. 454 00:24:43,359 –> 00:24:45,800 And in the darkness we need to hear it. 455 00:24:47,859 –> 00:24:52,180 And notice how he goes on, with you there is forgiveness. 456 00:24:53,339 –> 00:24:55,119 That you may be feared. 457 00:24:57,719 –> 00:25:00,660 Now that really isn’t how you would expect 458 00:25:00,660 –> 00:25:01,979 the verse to end, is it? 459 00:25:02,959 –> 00:25:05,660 You’d expect it to say, with you, oh Lord, 460 00:25:05,660 –> 00:25:08,979 there is forgiveness that you may be loved. 461 00:25:08,979 –> 00:25:10,800 That’s not what it says. 462 00:25:12,760 –> 00:25:16,380 With you there is forgiveness that you may be feared. 463 00:25:16,579 –> 00:25:21,579 And so what kind of fear increases with forgiveness? 464 00:25:25,959 –> 00:25:29,699 What kind of fear is generated by forgiveness? 465 00:25:29,699 –> 00:25:31,979 Because that’s what he’s saying. 466 00:25:31,979 –> 00:25:33,660 Well, obviously he’s not talking about 467 00:25:33,660 –> 00:25:35,900 the fear of condemnation because the fear 468 00:25:35,900 –> 00:25:39,780 of condemnation disappears with forgiveness. 469 00:25:39,780 –> 00:25:42,359 Perfect love cuts out that kind of fear, 470 00:25:42,359 –> 00:25:43,520 so he’s certainly not talking about 471 00:25:43,520 –> 00:25:44,939 the fear of condemnation. 472 00:25:44,939 –> 00:25:49,199 So what is this fear that is generated by forgiveness? 473 00:25:52,920 –> 00:25:54,520 Remember the story in the gospels 474 00:25:54,520 –> 00:25:56,280 about Jesus being in a boat with the 475 00:25:56,280 –> 00:25:58,479 disciples and there was a storm on the lake 476 00:26:00,079 –> 00:26:03,699 and they were real scared and Jesus got up 477 00:26:03,699 –> 00:26:05,280 and he spoke to the storm and he 478 00:26:05,280 –> 00:26:07,800 said peace be still and there was a great calm. 479 00:26:09,000 –> 00:26:11,500 And you remember how the story ended. 480 00:26:11,500 –> 00:26:13,380 Disciples danced around in the boat 481 00:26:13,439 –> 00:26:14,920 and they’re high fiving each other 482 00:26:14,920 –> 00:26:17,680 and no it doesn’t end like that does it? 483 00:26:18,719 –> 00:26:20,180 You remember how it does end? 484 00:26:21,199 –> 00:26:24,119 Jesus said peace be still and the next thing 485 00:26:24,119 –> 00:26:28,880 Mark tells us is they were terrified. 486 00:26:29,880 –> 00:26:31,699 Isn’t this fascinating? 487 00:26:31,699 –> 00:26:34,099 When there was a storm they were scared 488 00:26:35,160 –> 00:26:37,239 but when Jesus stopped the storm they 489 00:26:37,239 –> 00:26:39,819 were terrified, the fear went up. 490 00:26:39,819 –> 00:26:41,800 Why, what kind of fear was this? 491 00:26:43,619 –> 00:26:46,420 They realized even if dimly 492 00:26:48,339 –> 00:26:51,859 that they were in the presence of a mighty God 493 00:26:51,859 –> 00:26:55,020 who alone can still a storm that he had come 494 00:26:55,020 –> 00:26:59,140 and he had touched their lives and was right with them. 495 00:27:00,900 –> 00:27:02,479 And overwhelmed with awe. 496 00:27:05,979 –> 00:27:08,359 See this is a wonderful kind of fear, 497 00:27:08,359 –> 00:27:09,839 this is the sort of fear that the Bible 498 00:27:09,839 –> 00:27:12,380 talks about being the beginning of wisdom. 499 00:27:13,780 –> 00:27:16,780 To realize that Almighty God has come near 500 00:27:16,780 –> 00:27:18,579 and has touched your life, 501 00:27:19,540 –> 00:27:22,479 that the forgiveness that he’s released to you 502 00:27:22,479 –> 00:27:25,699 came at the cost of the death of his son 503 00:27:26,660 –> 00:27:28,439 and that he didn’t give this to you 504 00:27:28,439 –> 00:27:30,540 so that you could just go back and make a mess 505 00:27:30,540 –> 00:27:33,140 in the same way all over again but rather so that 506 00:27:33,140 –> 00:27:34,680 through the power of his spirit 507 00:27:34,680 –> 00:27:36,739 you could walk in newness of life 508 00:27:36,739 –> 00:27:40,099 and there is a sense of awe that God is now calling you 509 00:27:40,099 –> 00:27:41,579 and saying follow me. 510 00:27:43,420 –> 00:27:46,079 Notice what happens, by the way, after forgiveness. 511 00:27:46,079 –> 00:27:50,060 Boy these Psalms are packed full, spiritual wisdom. 512 00:27:51,699 –> 00:27:53,699 Look at what happens after forgiveness. 513 00:27:55,339 –> 00:27:56,900 Verse five. 514 00:27:56,900 –> 00:27:58,680 I wait for the Lord. 515 00:28:00,560 –> 00:28:04,000 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait 516 00:28:05,300 –> 00:28:06,260 for mourning. 517 00:28:06,260 –> 00:28:07,619 Now, he’s already forgiven. 518 00:28:07,619 –> 00:28:10,780 He said, present tense, there is forgiveness 519 00:28:10,780 –> 00:28:12,540 for the sons of men. 520 00:28:12,900 –> 00:28:14,180 Forgiveness with you. 521 00:28:14,180 –> 00:28:16,739 So he’s not waiting for forgiveness. 522 00:28:16,739 –> 00:28:18,239 What is he waiting for? 523 00:28:20,180 –> 00:28:24,500 Well he says, he is waiting for the Lord. 524 00:28:25,699 –> 00:28:26,939 He’s waiting, in other words, 525 00:28:26,939 –> 00:28:31,459 to enjoy a restored sense of the presence 526 00:28:31,459 –> 00:28:33,260 and the blessing of God in his life. 527 00:28:34,859 –> 00:28:38,420 By the way, that reminds us of a very important principle. 528 00:28:38,420 –> 00:28:41,640 Forgiveness is immediate. 529 00:28:42,540 –> 00:28:44,780 Healing is gradual. 530 00:28:46,319 –> 00:28:47,800 Forgiveness is immediate. 531 00:28:49,140 –> 00:28:51,560 Healing takes time. 532 00:28:52,500 –> 00:28:54,260 Very important to understand the distinction 533 00:28:54,260 –> 00:28:55,880 between these two things. 534 00:28:55,880 –> 00:28:57,739 The psalmist knows he’s forgiven, 535 00:28:58,660 –> 00:29:00,140 but he wants more than that. 536 00:29:00,140 –> 00:29:04,339 He wants to feel again, the intimacy of fellowship with God 537 00:29:04,339 –> 00:29:06,819 tha he enjoyed before, and that takes time. 538 00:29:06,819 –> 00:29:08,319 And he says, I’ll wait for it. 539 00:29:09,280 –> 00:29:11,359 I think you find the same thing with David 540 00:29:11,359 –> 00:29:15,280 in Psalm 51 where he prays in these two dimensions. 541 00:29:15,280 –> 00:29:17,060 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. 542 00:29:17,060 –> 00:29:19,459 Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 543 00:29:19,459 –> 00:29:21,359 But he doesn’t end there. 544 00:29:21,359 –> 00:29:24,359 He says, Restore to me the joy of my salvation, 545 00:29:24,359 –> 00:29:27,339 and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. 546 00:29:28,939 –> 00:29:33,160 So don’t confuse being forgiven 547 00:29:33,160 –> 00:29:35,359 with feeling forgiven. 548 00:29:36,400 –> 00:29:38,020 I find a lot of folks confused there. 549 00:29:38,020 –> 00:29:39,699 I don’t feel forgiven, so that must mean 550 00:29:39,699 –> 00:29:40,920 that God hasn’t forgiven me. 551 00:29:40,920 –> 00:29:42,160 Now that’s a confusion. 552 00:29:43,819 –> 00:29:47,660 Don’t confuse being forgiven with feeling forgiven. 553 00:29:47,660 –> 00:29:50,300 Being forgiven is an act of God 554 00:29:50,300 –> 00:29:53,859 on the basis of the blood of Jesus Christ. 555 00:29:53,859 –> 00:29:56,719 There is forgiveness with you. 556 00:29:57,560 –> 00:30:01,839 Feeling forgiven is part of the process of recovery. 557 00:30:01,839 –> 00:30:03,780 And sometimes it takes a while 558 00:30:03,780 –> 00:30:07,599 for your feelings to catch up with the new reality. 559 00:30:08,959 –> 00:30:11,439 The wonderful thing is that though that may take time, 560 00:30:11,439 –> 00:30:13,180 and frankly, it normally will, 561 00:30:14,800 –> 00:30:16,180 it will happen. 562 00:30:17,680 –> 00:30:20,560 That’s why the Psalmist uses this wonderful image 563 00:30:20,560 –> 00:30:22,219 of my soul waiting for the Lord 564 00:30:22,219 –> 00:30:25,880 more than watchmen wait for morning. 565 00:30:25,880 –> 00:30:29,079 The watchman feels that the morning is a long time coming. 566 00:30:29,079 –> 00:30:31,459 If you have had the experience of being awake at night, 567 00:30:31,459 –> 00:30:32,880 you will know how long 568 00:30:33,000 –> 00:30:35,119 a night is if you cannot sleep. 569 00:30:37,819 –> 00:30:39,780 But the morning will come. 570 00:30:42,180 –> 00:30:44,880 Weeping endures for a night. 571 00:30:47,239 –> 00:30:48,680 But joy comes in the morning. 572 00:30:51,900 –> 00:30:54,000 So an open wound, 573 00:30:55,660 –> 00:30:56,839 an anguished cry. 574 00:30:57,859 –> 00:30:59,540 Here’s the third. 575 00:30:59,540 –> 00:31:01,619 The third picture is we’re following progress 576 00:31:01,959 –> 00:31:03,959 through this experience of suffering, 577 00:31:03,959 –> 00:31:05,099 the weaned child. 578 00:31:05,099 –> 00:31:06,900 Psalm 131 verse 2, 579 00:31:06,900 –> 00:31:09,560 I have stilled and quieted my soul 580 00:31:09,560 –> 00:31:13,180 like a weaned child with its mother. 581 00:31:15,040 –> 00:31:18,319 Now, every mother knows weaning is a difficult business. 582 00:31:19,680 –> 00:31:22,319 Bring back some memories for those who are mums here. 583 00:31:23,300 –> 00:31:24,599 A lot of tears, 584 00:31:26,280 –> 00:31:27,660 a lot of tantrums. 585 00:31:28,599 –> 00:31:33,599 Weaning isn’t easy for the child or for the mother, 586 00:31:35,020 –> 00:31:37,319 but it is part of the process 587 00:31:37,319 –> 00:31:40,119 of moving from infancy to maturity, 588 00:31:42,000 –> 00:31:45,280 and it is a great relief for the child and for the mother 589 00:31:45,280 –> 00:31:47,680 when the process of weaning is complete, 590 00:31:47,680 –> 00:31:50,219 at last the crying has stopped, 591 00:31:50,219 –> 00:31:51,520 the tantrums are over, 592 00:31:51,520 –> 00:31:55,280 and instead of making constant demands on the mother, 593 00:31:55,339 –> 00:31:58,959 the child is now contented sitting beside her. 594 00:31:58,959 –> 00:32:00,420 Now, that’s the picture here. 595 00:32:03,000 –> 00:32:04,520 Now, the point is, of course, 596 00:32:04,520 –> 00:32:07,000 that we go through a process of weaning 597 00:32:07,000 –> 00:32:09,439 in the Christian life, 598 00:32:09,439 –> 00:32:11,239 and this is part of what it means 599 00:32:11,239 –> 00:32:15,520 to move from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity. 600 00:32:16,680 –> 00:32:18,920 See, the young child sees its mother 601 00:32:18,920 –> 00:32:21,140 as being there to give the little scrap everything 602 00:32:21,140 –> 00:32:24,859 that he needs or wants on demand, as it were, 603 00:32:24,859 –> 00:32:27,300 and as soon as the little fellow feels hungry, 604 00:32:27,300 –> 00:32:29,140 he cries out day or night 605 00:32:29,140 –> 00:32:32,079 and goes on yelling until he gets what he wants. 606 00:32:33,079 –> 00:32:34,880 And there’s nothing wrong with that, 607 00:32:36,260 –> 00:32:37,540 but it is infant. 608 00:32:39,219 –> 00:32:40,520 There is something wrong with that 609 00:32:40,520 –> 00:32:43,160 if you’re still doing it at age 25, right? 610 00:32:45,280 –> 00:32:48,339 The mature son no longer sees his mother 611 00:32:48,339 –> 00:32:51,800 as existing to provide everything he wants, 612 00:32:52,300 –> 00:32:56,439 but rather stands alongside his mother 613 00:32:56,439 –> 00:32:58,520 as one who is deeply loved. 614 00:33:00,199 –> 00:33:05,199 Now, we all begin the Christian life as spiritual infants, 615 00:33:05,420 –> 00:33:07,680 and at that stage, it is quite natural for us 616 00:33:07,680 –> 00:33:10,199 to feel that God is the one who exists 617 00:33:10,199 –> 00:33:12,060 to keep us satisfied. 618 00:33:13,640 –> 00:33:17,599 But God does not want us to remain in spiritual infancy. 619 00:33:17,599 –> 00:33:21,000 He wants us to grow into the full measure 620 00:33:21,060 –> 00:33:24,160 of a mature son and daughter of God. 621 00:33:26,439 –> 00:33:29,900 And, you see, that’s what suffering does. 622 00:33:32,199 –> 00:33:37,199 It weans us off an infant approach to God. 623 00:33:39,579 –> 00:33:43,540 It brings us to the place where we’re no longer loving God 624 00:33:43,540 –> 00:33:45,520 because everything is in our life 625 00:33:45,520 –> 00:33:46,699 as we would want it to be, 626 00:33:46,699 –> 00:33:49,000 but we are loving God with the maturity 627 00:33:49,540 –> 00:33:51,859 of one who loves him for who he is. 628 00:33:53,560 –> 00:33:54,400 That’s growth. 629 00:33:57,000 –> 00:33:58,660 Now, I want you to notice just briefly 630 00:33:58,660 –> 00:34:01,079 one of the key parts of this growth. 631 00:34:01,079 –> 00:34:03,939 The thing that underlies the weaning process. 632 00:34:03,939 –> 00:34:08,939 Notice, in verse one, that the psalmist has let go 633 00:34:09,639 –> 00:34:13,459 of some of the unanswerable questions of his life. 634 00:34:14,500 –> 00:34:17,040 And this is really the foundation of weaning, 635 00:34:17,080 –> 00:34:18,919 or at least a major part of it. 636 00:34:18,919 –> 00:34:20,580 “‘My heart is not proud,’ he says, 637 00:34:20,580 –> 00:34:22,419 “‘O Lord, my eyes are not haughty. 638 00:34:22,419 –> 00:34:24,179 “‘I don’t concern myself with great matters 639 00:34:24,179 –> 00:34:26,439 “‘or things that are too wonderful for me.’” 640 00:34:26,439 –> 00:34:27,540 That’s very important. 641 00:34:28,939 –> 00:34:31,179 If you want to move in the right direction, 642 00:34:32,040 –> 00:34:33,639 if you want to pursue this path 643 00:34:33,639 –> 00:34:35,399 through the valley of suffering, 644 00:34:35,399 –> 00:34:37,020 coming out the other side, 645 00:34:39,080 –> 00:34:41,879 if you want to move from pain to peace, 646 00:34:43,080 –> 00:34:46,959 then at some point, you will have to let go 647 00:34:47,040 –> 00:34:49,340 of the questions you cannot answer. 648 00:34:50,639 –> 00:34:54,459 Usually these questions will begin with the words, 649 00:34:54,459 –> 00:34:57,860 why did God allow? 650 00:34:59,479 –> 00:35:00,959 You got a question like that? 651 00:35:04,040 –> 00:35:05,800 And you’re not gonna get an answer. 652 00:35:07,560 –> 00:35:10,120 Why did God allow the particular suffering 653 00:35:10,120 –> 00:35:13,100 that has been most painful plowing up your life? 654 00:35:15,739 –> 00:35:16,580 I don’t know. 655 00:35:17,939 –> 00:35:18,979 I don’t know. 656 00:35:21,300 –> 00:35:25,739 And all of us struggle with the unanswered questions 657 00:35:25,739 –> 00:35:27,100 of our lives. 658 00:35:29,659 –> 00:35:31,020 But at some point, 659 00:35:32,439 –> 00:35:35,000 if you’re gonna move from infancy to maturity, 660 00:35:36,419 –> 00:35:38,659 you have to bring the unanswered question 661 00:35:38,659 –> 00:35:40,300 to the foot of the cross of Jesus 662 00:35:40,300 –> 00:35:41,840 and leave it there as something 663 00:35:41,840 –> 00:35:44,560 that you trust to him in faith also. 664 00:35:44,620 –> 00:35:45,719 At least to faith also. 665 00:35:47,459 –> 00:35:50,260 Way back in the 11th century 666 00:35:50,260 –> 00:35:53,340 there was an English monk by the name of Anselm. 667 00:35:53,340 –> 00:35:54,860 A very famous Christian. 668 00:35:54,860 –> 00:35:57,020 He struggled with this whole question 669 00:35:57,020 –> 00:36:01,340 of believing when you do not understand. 670 00:36:01,340 –> 00:36:03,899 And he wrote a very famous prayer 671 00:36:03,899 –> 00:36:05,280 and this is what he said. 672 00:36:06,840 –> 00:36:09,260 I do not seek oh Lord, 673 00:36:09,260 –> 00:36:11,860 to penetrate thy depths. 674 00:36:12,679 –> 00:36:17,679 I by no means think my intellect equal to them. 675 00:36:20,439 –> 00:36:24,399 But I long to understand in some degree thy truth 676 00:36:24,399 –> 00:36:27,919 which my heart believes and loves. 677 00:36:27,919 –> 00:36:29,580 And then his most famous words. 678 00:36:30,840 –> 00:36:35,419 For I do not seek to understand that I may believe, 679 00:36:36,679 –> 00:36:40,739 but I believe that I may understand. 680 00:36:42,699 –> 00:36:44,100 There is great wisdom there. 681 00:36:45,979 –> 00:36:48,399 The secret things belong to the Lord. 682 00:36:49,500 –> 00:36:51,639 There are some questions to which you will 683 00:36:51,639 –> 00:36:53,699 never know the answer in this life. 684 00:36:56,439 –> 00:36:59,479 And frankly, wanting to know all things 685 00:36:59,479 –> 00:37:03,100 is like trying to put yourself in the position of God. 686 00:37:03,100 –> 00:37:04,379 And that is idolatry. 687 00:37:05,840 –> 00:37:10,219 Only God knows all things and you are not God. 688 00:37:12,020 –> 00:37:14,419 So faith knows that it has to live 689 00:37:14,419 –> 00:37:16,659 with some unanswered questions. 690 00:37:18,120 –> 00:37:21,399 I believe that I may understand. 691 00:37:22,580 –> 00:37:23,939 There comes a point where I have 692 00:37:23,939 –> 00:37:25,959 to lay my unanswered questions 693 00:37:25,959 –> 00:37:27,620 at the foot of the cross of Jesus 694 00:37:27,620 –> 00:37:30,080 and say with Anselm, I don’t need 695 00:37:30,080 –> 00:37:33,179 to understand everything, Jesus, before I believe. 696 00:37:34,179 –> 00:37:39,179 But I will believe so that one day I will truly understand. 697 00:37:39,219 –> 00:37:40,239 I will truly understand. 698 00:37:41,620 –> 00:37:46,620 The open wound, the anguished cry, the weaned child. 699 00:37:48,899 –> 00:37:50,800 See the path of progress? 700 00:37:53,679 –> 00:37:56,739 Now, in our very last moments briefly, 701 00:37:56,739 –> 00:38:01,379 I want us to think, and I hope to think with worship 702 00:38:02,699 –> 00:38:07,699 about what it meant for Jesus to pray these Psalms 703 00:38:09,820 –> 00:38:13,100 Can you hear Jesus saying this? 704 00:38:14,899 –> 00:38:19,500 They have greatly oppressed me from my youth. 705 00:38:20,820 –> 00:38:23,419 No no sooner was he born. 706 00:38:24,780 –> 00:38:27,379 Herod wanted to murder him, 707 00:38:27,379 –> 00:38:29,120 and the hatred of Christ 708 00:38:29,120 –> 00:38:32,919 went all the way through his life right up to the cross. 709 00:38:35,639 –> 00:38:37,959 Can you hear Christ saying this? 710 00:38:38,820 –> 00:38:43,820 They have plowed my back with long furrows. 711 00:38:49,219 –> 00:38:51,100 You’ve seen the film of the Passion. 712 00:38:51,100 –> 00:38:52,899 It will immediately come back to you. 713 00:38:54,760 –> 00:38:58,139 The scourging of Jesus Christ, 714 00:39:00,340 –> 00:39:04,479 lacerating not only his back but the whole of his body. 715 00:39:04,479 –> 00:39:09,479 They have plowed my back with long furrows. 716 00:39:13,280 –> 00:39:15,899 Can you hear Jesus praying this from Psalm 130? 717 00:39:18,300 –> 00:39:21,919 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. 718 00:39:23,879 –> 00:39:27,719 Remember him in the awesome darkness that came over Calvary 719 00:39:27,719 –> 00:39:30,560 while he hung on the cross for three of these hours 720 00:39:30,560 –> 00:39:33,459 and he cries, out of the depths, my God, my God, 721 00:39:33,520 –> 00:39:35,179 why have you forsaken me? 722 00:39:38,659 –> 00:39:42,379 But his suffering does not end in the cry of dereliction. 723 00:39:42,379 –> 00:39:46,239 He puts his hope in the Lord and after the darkness passes, 724 00:39:46,239 –> 00:39:50,179 he is able to say with the spirit of a weaned child, 725 00:39:50,179 –> 00:39:55,179 father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. 726 00:39:59,580 –> 00:40:02,100 And our Lord Jesus Christ is able to say 727 00:40:02,179 –> 00:40:03,760 as no other can say, 728 00:40:03,760 –> 00:40:07,239 they have not gained the victory over me. 729 00:40:09,040 –> 00:40:12,419 That is why David at the end of Psalm 131 could say, 730 00:40:12,419 –> 00:40:16,360 oh Israel put your hope in the Lord, 731 00:40:16,360 –> 00:40:19,179 both now and forevermore. 732 00:40:21,600 –> 00:40:23,560 You know in all the discussion that goes on 733 00:40:23,560 –> 00:40:25,199 in our culture about religion 734 00:40:25,199 –> 00:40:28,340 and all the stuff we keep hearing 735 00:40:28,340 –> 00:40:30,080 about everything’s the same. 736 00:40:30,979 –> 00:40:35,179 I find myself thinking more and more these days 737 00:40:35,179 –> 00:40:37,100 about the uniqueness of Jesus. 738 00:40:39,639 –> 00:40:41,560 You go into a Buddhist temple, 739 00:40:41,560 –> 00:40:44,219 travel anywhere in the far east you’ll see so many. 740 00:40:46,659 –> 00:40:48,159 And you’ll see an image there, 741 00:40:48,159 –> 00:40:53,159 a large image of one sitting with folded arms 742 00:40:53,780 –> 00:40:56,399 and expressionless eyes looking remote, 743 00:40:56,399 –> 00:40:59,780 passive, distant, as uncaring as you could imagine. 744 00:41:04,159 –> 00:41:09,159 The arms of Jesus are not folded in detachment, 745 00:41:13,399 –> 00:41:16,840 the arms of Jesus are spread out in sacrificial love. 746 00:41:20,360 –> 00:41:22,620 And when you go through the dark valley of pain 747 00:41:22,620 –> 00:41:25,659 and suffering he will meet you there. 748 00:41:26,399 –> 00:41:31,399 A broken world needs Jesus because only Jesus 749 00:41:32,540 –> 00:41:34,560 can speak to a broken world. 750 00:41:37,600 –> 00:41:42,199 He knows what it is for the open wound to bleed. 751 00:41:45,459 –> 00:41:48,919 He knows what it is to cry out in the darkness 752 00:41:52,000 –> 00:41:54,340 and he knows what it is to come through 753 00:41:55,300 –> 00:41:56,939 to the triumph of victory. 754 00:41:59,139 –> 00:42:02,320 And he’ll meet you in your darkness. 755 00:42:04,439 –> 00:42:07,959 And he’s the only one who can bring you through. 756 00:42:09,340 –> 00:42:10,500 Shall we pray together. 757 00:42:13,600 –> 00:42:16,479 Father, right now many of us are feeling 758 00:42:16,479 –> 00:42:20,239 just a strong desire to draw near to Jesus. 759 00:42:20,659 –> 00:42:25,659 Some of us, we just feel the open wounds right now, 760 00:42:28,679 –> 00:42:31,580 we thank you that you will meet us right where we are. 761 00:42:33,659 –> 00:42:36,419 We come to you believing not understanding 762 00:42:36,419 –> 00:42:39,459 but sensing that our help is in you 763 00:42:39,459 –> 00:42:42,340 and asking that you will lead us through this dark valley. 764 00:42:42,379 –> 00:42:46,899 Others of us are crying out in the darkness 765 00:42:46,899 –> 00:42:48,800 and we need to hear this word 766 00:42:48,800 –> 00:42:50,179 that there is forgiveness with you. 767 00:42:50,179 –> 00:42:52,419 There are other people who won’t forgive us. 768 00:42:54,959 –> 00:42:57,199 Lord, thank you that there is forgiveness 769 00:42:57,199 –> 00:42:59,000 through the Lord Jesus Christ. 770 00:42:59,000 –> 00:43:00,659 We embrace that, we need it. 771 00:43:02,320 –> 00:43:06,040 We’re asking for your help that we’ll now live differently. 772 00:43:08,439 –> 00:43:10,260 If we come to you Today, 773 00:43:10,760 –> 00:43:15,679 know that our forgiveness may be that you may be feared. 774 00:43:19,080 –> 00:43:21,399 Some of us have been struggling, wrestling, 775 00:43:21,399 –> 00:43:23,500 tearing ourselves apart with questions 776 00:43:23,500 –> 00:43:25,719 to which you have not given us the answer, 777 00:43:25,719 –> 00:43:27,500 and right now, as best we are able, 778 00:43:27,500 –> 00:43:31,020 we want to lay them at the foot of the cross of Jesus 779 00:43:31,020 –> 00:43:35,159 and say with Anselm that I believe 780 00:43:36,840 –> 00:43:38,979 in order that one day I may understand. 781 00:43:41,199 –> 00:43:46,199 Come to you in faith so that you will teach us repentance. 782 00:43:50,360 –> 00:43:52,399 We ask that you will lead us through this valley 783 00:43:52,399 –> 00:43:55,080 and into the joy of your presence beyond, 784 00:43:57,000 –> 00:43:58,439 in Jesus’ name, amen.