1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:06,040 Would you turn your Bibles, please, to Psalm 125 and 126 2 00:00:06,040 –> 00:00:08,240 as we continue our series entitled 3 00:00:08,240 –> 00:00:11,000 Moving in the Right Direction. 4 00:00:11,000 –> 00:00:12,960 We’re discovering that the Christian life 5 00:00:12,960 –> 00:00:17,139 is a journey with the presence of Jesus 6 00:00:17,139 –> 00:00:19,920 and to the presence of Jesus. 7 00:00:19,920 –> 00:00:24,020 And from these Psalms that are called Psalms of Ascents, 8 00:00:24,020 –> 00:00:28,480 a group of 15 Psalms between a 120 and 134, 9 00:00:28,480 –> 00:00:30,840 we’re discovering how to move forward 10 00:00:30,840 –> 00:00:32,939 in that journey of faith. 11 00:00:32,939 –> 00:00:37,599 So, we come today to Psalm 125 and 126, 12 00:00:37,599 –> 00:00:40,040 and I hope you’ll open your Bible there with me 13 00:00:40,040 –> 00:00:44,360 so that we can see what the Word of God says to us today. 14 00:00:44,360 –> 00:00:47,779 Let us here then, the Word of God, Psalm 125, 15 00:00:47,779 –> 00:00:51,139 entitled A Song of Ascents. 16 00:00:52,080 –> 00:00:57,080 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, 17 00:00:58,820 –> 00:01:01,980 which cannot be shaken but endures forever. 18 00:01:03,560 –> 00:01:06,300 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, 19 00:01:06,300 –> 00:01:08,940 so the Lord surrounds his people, 20 00:01:08,940 –> 00:01:12,199 both now and forevermore. 21 00:01:13,360 –> 00:01:18,360 The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land 22 00:01:18,459 –> 00:01:20,760 allotted to the righteous, 23 00:01:20,760 –> 00:01:24,139 for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil. 24 00:01:25,059 –> 00:01:28,580 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, 25 00:01:28,580 –> 00:01:31,199 to those who are upright in heart. 26 00:01:31,199 –> 00:01:33,660 But those who turn to crooked ways, 27 00:01:33,660 –> 00:01:37,680 the Lord will banish with the evildoers. 28 00:01:37,680 –> 00:01:41,199 Peace be upon Israel. 29 00:01:41,199 –> 00:01:44,440 When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, 30 00:01:44,440 –> 00:01:47,239 we were like men who dreamed. 31 00:01:47,239 –> 00:01:49,599 Our mouths were filled with laughter, 32 00:01:49,599 –> 00:01:52,360 our tongues with songs of joy. 33 00:01:52,360 –> 00:01:55,480 Then it was said among the nations, 34 00:01:55,480 –> 00:01:59,519 the Lord has done great things for them. 35 00:01:59,519 –> 00:02:02,379 The Lord has done great things for us 36 00:02:02,379 –> 00:02:04,699 and we are filled with joy. 37 00:02:05,639 –> 00:02:10,639 Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev. 38 00:02:11,800 –> 00:02:16,800 Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. 39 00:02:17,360 –> 00:02:22,360 He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow 40 00:02:23,320 –> 00:02:26,600 will return with songs of joy, 41 00:02:26,600 –> 00:02:30,460 carrying sheaves with him. 42 00:02:30,460 –> 00:02:32,080 This is the word of God. 43 00:02:34,460 –> 00:02:37,399 Now, I want to speak today particularly to Christians 44 00:02:37,399 –> 00:02:41,240 who really care about the cause of Jesus Christ 45 00:02:41,240 –> 00:02:42,419 in the world. 46 00:02:43,339 –> 00:02:45,160 And I hope that that describes all of us 47 00:02:45,160 –> 00:02:46,440 who are believers. 48 00:02:47,320 –> 00:02:51,360 The Apostle Paul describes Christians in many ways. 49 00:02:51,360 –> 00:02:55,539 He talks in one place about us being God’s field. 50 00:02:55,539 –> 00:02:57,559 That’s a wonderful picture because it reminds us 51 00:02:57,559 –> 00:02:59,500 that God is at work in us. 52 00:03:00,520 –> 00:03:03,320 But then he also speaks about us being workers 53 00:03:03,320 –> 00:03:05,899 with God in the field. 54 00:03:05,899 –> 00:03:08,360 And that’s important too because it reminds us 55 00:03:08,360 –> 00:03:11,440 that God is at work through us. 56 00:03:12,339 –> 00:03:16,619 God’s work in some sense is placed into our hands 57 00:03:16,619 –> 00:03:20,160 and we are involved with it. 58 00:03:20,160 –> 00:03:23,559 And if we ask what is that work, what is God’s work, 59 00:03:23,559 –> 00:03:26,820 what is the cause about which we should be concerned, 60 00:03:26,820 –> 00:03:29,960 it is that His truth should be proclaimed, 61 00:03:29,960 –> 00:03:32,759 that His love should be displayed, 62 00:03:32,759 –> 00:03:35,520 that His glory should be reflected, 63 00:03:35,520 –> 00:03:38,279 that His gospel should be believed, 64 00:03:38,279 –> 00:03:41,419 and that His son should be honored. 65 00:03:41,419 –> 00:03:43,479 And God’s strategy for accomplishing 66 00:03:43,660 –> 00:03:47,399 these things is called the church. 67 00:03:47,399 –> 00:03:49,720 His plan is that congregations of people 68 00:03:49,720 –> 00:03:52,779 should gather together in particular places, 69 00:03:52,779 –> 00:03:55,279 that they should gather in the name of Jesus, 70 00:03:55,279 –> 00:03:56,800 and that they should be light 71 00:03:56,800 –> 00:04:00,259 in the darkness of this world until Jesus comes again. 72 00:04:00,259 –> 00:04:04,440 His plan is that His presence will be known on the earth 73 00:04:04,440 –> 00:04:09,039 through the common life of these communities of people. 74 00:04:09,039 –> 00:04:11,820 That’s our calling, 75 00:04:11,820 –> 00:04:12,979 that’s our cause. 76 00:04:14,080 –> 00:04:18,399 That’s the great passion and concern of our lives. 77 00:04:18,399 –> 00:04:19,880 Now in the Old Testament, 78 00:04:19,880 –> 00:04:24,119 this ministry was illustrated and foreshadowed 79 00:04:24,119 –> 00:04:26,359 by the city of Jerusalem. 80 00:04:26,359 –> 00:04:28,299 We’ve been discovering that God’s purpose 81 00:04:28,299 –> 00:04:30,820 in the Old Testament was that Jerusalem 82 00:04:30,820 –> 00:04:34,359 should be like an outpost of heaven on the earth. 83 00:04:34,359 –> 00:04:35,679 This was to be the place 84 00:04:35,679 –> 00:04:38,859 where God’s people Israel gathered for worship. 85 00:04:38,859 –> 00:04:39,899 This was the place 86 00:04:39,899 –> 00:04:42,519 where God said His presence would come down 87 00:04:42,619 –> 00:04:45,059 and the cloud of God’s presence did come down 88 00:04:45,059 –> 00:04:48,019 on occasions and meet with His people. 89 00:04:48,019 –> 00:04:51,380 This was to be a foreshadowing on Earth 90 00:04:51,380 –> 00:04:54,299 of the new Jerusalem that one day would be 91 00:04:54,299 –> 00:04:57,320 the home of all the people of God. 92 00:04:57,320 –> 00:05:00,540 And we’ve seen already from Psalm 122 93 00:05:00,540 –> 00:05:02,480 that this place where God had promised 94 00:05:02,480 –> 00:05:04,339 that His presence would come down 95 00:05:04,339 –> 00:05:06,700 was not only uniquely blessed, 96 00:05:06,700 –> 00:05:09,059 but it was also uniquely troubled. 97 00:05:09,059 –> 00:05:14,059 It became the focus of both physical and spiritual attack. 98 00:05:14,720 –> 00:05:16,880 We’ve seen that the city of Jerusalem 99 00:05:16,880 –> 00:05:19,959 has been destroyed and rebuilt 100 00:05:19,959 –> 00:05:22,359 more often than any other city 101 00:05:22,359 –> 00:05:25,260 in the history of the world. 102 00:05:25,260 –> 00:05:28,880 And this is a picture of God’s work over the centuries. 103 00:05:28,880 –> 00:05:29,820 It is built up. 104 00:05:29,820 –> 00:05:30,760 It is torn down. 105 00:05:30,760 –> 00:05:31,779 It is built up again. 106 00:05:31,779 –> 00:05:32,679 It is torn down. 107 00:05:32,679 –> 00:05:34,019 It comes under attack. 108 00:05:34,019 –> 00:05:36,200 God revives it again. 109 00:05:36,200 –> 00:05:38,619 It is the pattern of death and resurrection. 110 00:05:38,859 –> 00:05:40,779 It weaves itself all the way 111 00:05:40,779 –> 00:05:45,059 through the story of God’s work in the world. 112 00:05:45,940 –> 00:05:50,940 Now Psalm 125 and 126 seem to have been written 113 00:05:50,959 –> 00:05:55,779 at a time when God’s people faced the overwhelming challenge 114 00:05:55,779 –> 00:06:00,779 of rebuilding the destroyed city of Jerusalem. 115 00:06:01,079 –> 00:06:04,339 And I have found that as I’ve grasped a little more 116 00:06:04,339 –> 00:06:07,059 of the original setting of this psalm 117 00:06:07,059 –> 00:06:10,440 when it was first sung and when it was first written 118 00:06:10,440 –> 00:06:13,859 that that has helped me to understand more clearly 119 00:06:13,859 –> 00:06:18,160 how it speaks to the challenges that we face today. 120 00:06:18,160 –> 00:06:19,760 In fact, you will find that’s a pattern 121 00:06:19,760 –> 00:06:20,880 as you study the scripture. 122 00:06:20,880 –> 00:06:23,040 If you can grasp its original meaning, 123 00:06:23,040 –> 00:06:25,119 that will be your stepping stone 124 00:06:25,119 –> 00:06:28,420 to understanding its proper application. 125 00:06:28,420 –> 00:06:29,899 So I want to take just a few moments 126 00:06:29,899 –> 00:06:31,799 for us to grasp its setting 127 00:06:31,799 –> 00:06:35,359 and then I think you will find its significance 128 00:06:35,399 –> 00:06:38,540 opening up to our minds and our hearts. 129 00:06:38,540 –> 00:06:40,119 Hope you have your Bibles open then 130 00:06:40,119 –> 00:06:41,579 and you’ll see that the first clue 131 00:06:41,579 –> 00:06:44,019 to the original setting of these Psalms 132 00:06:44,019 –> 00:06:47,440 comes in Psalm 125 and verse three. 133 00:06:47,440 –> 00:06:48,820 Where we read, 134 00:06:48,820 –> 00:06:51,839 the scepter of the wicked 135 00:06:51,839 –> 00:06:56,140 will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous. 136 00:06:56,140 –> 00:06:58,000 Now, a scepter, of course, 137 00:06:58,000 –> 00:07:01,980 is a symbol of power and authority. 138 00:07:01,980 –> 00:07:05,160 It is usually held by a king or a queen 139 00:07:05,160 –> 00:07:07,100 but the significance of the scepter 140 00:07:07,100 –> 00:07:11,660 is that the one who holds the scepter has power. 141 00:07:11,660 –> 00:07:13,619 That’s the picture. 142 00:07:13,619 –> 00:07:18,179 Now notice that Psalm 125 gives us a terrible phrase 143 00:07:19,100 –> 00:07:20,820 because it talks there in verse three 144 00:07:20,820 –> 00:07:24,799 about the scepter of the wicked. 145 00:07:25,799 –> 00:07:27,100 This is a terrible thing. 146 00:07:27,100 –> 00:07:29,839 This is telling us the wicked are in power 147 00:07:30,899 –> 00:07:33,140 and apparently they have been in power 148 00:07:33,640 –> 00:07:36,119 over the land allotted to God’s people. 149 00:07:37,399 –> 00:07:40,079 Now those who know the story of the Old Testament 150 00:07:40,079 –> 00:07:43,799 will remember that after the time of David and Solomon 151 00:07:43,799 –> 00:07:47,239 when God’s blessing was poured out in a remarkable way 152 00:07:47,239 –> 00:07:49,880 upon the land and upon His people. 153 00:07:49,880 –> 00:07:51,399 There was a great division, 154 00:07:51,399 –> 00:07:52,760 the kingdom split in two, 155 00:07:52,760 –> 00:07:55,320 10 tribes in the north, two in the south, 156 00:07:55,320 –> 00:07:57,720 and for the next 300 or 400 years 157 00:07:57,720 –> 00:08:01,320 there was an almost unrelieved story of tragedy. 158 00:08:01,320 –> 00:08:03,899 A momentum that almost without exception 159 00:08:03,899 –> 00:08:07,420 was a movement away from loyalty to God. 160 00:08:07,420 –> 00:08:10,260 The prophets warned that Jerusalem itself 161 00:08:10,260 –> 00:08:13,640 could not stand if God’s people departed 162 00:08:13,640 –> 00:08:15,579 from the true worship of His name, 163 00:08:17,220 –> 00:08:21,000 and in time what the prophets said proved true. 164 00:08:21,000 –> 00:08:23,660 Enemies came from the east, 165 00:08:23,660 –> 00:08:25,820 Jerusalem was destroyed, 166 00:08:25,820 –> 00:08:29,519 the city devastated after a prolonged siege. 167 00:08:29,519 –> 00:08:32,619 Many fled, many more died, 168 00:08:32,619 –> 00:08:37,619 and those who remained were taken off as exiles 169 00:08:37,760 –> 00:08:41,320 into the city of Babylon several hundred miles to the east. 170 00:08:41,320 –> 00:08:45,760 And there they remained for a period of 70 years. 171 00:08:45,760 –> 00:08:49,580 Now that is the period that we call the exile, 172 00:08:49,580 –> 00:08:53,820 and during these long years of the exile, 173 00:08:53,820 –> 00:08:55,179 try and picture the place 174 00:08:55,179 –> 00:08:56,960 where God had promised His presence. 175 00:08:56,960 –> 00:09:01,960 It was a pile of rubble under the authority of foreigners. 176 00:09:03,580 –> 00:09:06,200 It was an uninhabited wasteland, 177 00:09:06,200 –> 00:09:07,559 the place that was supposed to be 178 00:09:07,559 –> 00:09:11,280 the scene of God’s blessing destroyed. 179 00:09:11,280 –> 00:09:15,159 The scepter of the wicked was over. 180 00:09:15,159 –> 00:09:17,919 The land alloted to the righteous. 181 00:09:19,200 –> 00:09:22,400 But now notice that 70 years later 182 00:09:22,500 –> 00:09:26,380 there is this new note of hope in Psalm 125. 183 00:09:26,380 –> 00:09:27,500 Verse three. 184 00:09:27,500 –> 00:09:29,700 The scepter of the wicked 185 00:09:29,700 –> 00:09:33,820 will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous. 186 00:09:33,820 –> 00:09:36,099 God is going to break the scepter of the wicked. 187 00:09:36,099 –> 00:09:37,820 God is going to do a new thing. 188 00:09:37,820 –> 00:09:40,820 The city of Jerusalem will be rebuilt 189 00:09:40,820 –> 00:09:42,940 and you notice that the reason God 190 00:09:42,940 –> 00:09:44,380 broke the scepter of the wicked 191 00:09:44,380 –> 00:09:46,979 was to keep the righteous 192 00:09:46,979 –> 00:09:49,520 from using their hands to do evil. 193 00:09:50,500 –> 00:09:53,619 You see, after 70 years, 194 00:09:53,619 –> 00:09:55,219 it was a whole new generation of people 195 00:09:55,219 –> 00:09:56,940 who’d never seen Jerusalem, 196 00:09:56,940 –> 00:09:58,859 never set foot in the Promised Land. 197 00:09:59,859 –> 00:10:01,179 All they’d ever known 198 00:10:01,179 –> 00:10:03,880 was the unbelieving culture of Babylon. 199 00:10:05,119 –> 00:10:08,140 They’d heard the stories of faith from their parents. 200 00:10:08,140 –> 00:10:10,140 They’d heard the stories of what it was 201 00:10:10,140 –> 00:10:12,919 to be distinctive as the people of God 202 00:10:12,919 –> 00:10:14,340 in an unbelieving world 203 00:10:14,340 –> 00:10:16,460 and to be part of building the city of God 204 00:10:16,979 –> 00:10:19,780 that was where God’s blessing and presence would be known, 205 00:10:19,780 –> 00:10:21,440 but they’d never experienced it. 206 00:10:22,700 –> 00:10:23,580 And the danger, of course, 207 00:10:23,580 –> 00:10:28,580 was that they might settle down to life in a secular world, 208 00:10:28,719 –> 00:10:30,619 that they’d lose vision, 209 00:10:31,559 –> 00:10:33,640 that rebuilding the city of God 210 00:10:33,640 –> 00:10:36,080 would become a second kind of priority 211 00:10:36,080 –> 00:10:37,859 that people never really got to, 212 00:10:37,859 –> 00:10:42,859 and that they would simply accept the dominance of unbelief 213 00:10:42,859 –> 00:10:44,960 in the culture and in the world. 214 00:10:45,880 –> 00:10:49,239 But God did not allow that to happen. 215 00:10:49,239 –> 00:10:52,179 God broke the scepter of the wicked. 216 00:10:52,179 –> 00:10:56,880 Wonderfully, he raised up a new generation among his people 217 00:10:56,880 –> 00:10:59,960 with a new vision for being the people of God 218 00:10:59,960 –> 00:11:01,919 and rebuilding the city of God. 219 00:11:01,919 –> 00:11:06,859 And so after 70 years, these folks begin to return. 220 00:11:06,859 –> 00:11:08,640 And the Old Testament tells us the story 221 00:11:08,640 –> 00:11:11,400 of how the first wave of exiles came back 222 00:11:11,400 –> 00:11:14,320 under the leadership of a man called Zerubbabel. 223 00:11:14,320 –> 00:11:16,020 You have to practice saying that. 224 00:11:16,020 –> 00:11:18,719 The second wave came on under the leadership 225 00:11:18,719 –> 00:11:20,080 of a man called Ezra. 226 00:11:20,080 –> 00:11:22,359 And the third wave under the leadership 227 00:11:22,359 –> 00:11:24,559 of a man called Nehemiah. 228 00:11:24,559 –> 00:11:26,940 And they share together a common vision. 229 00:11:26,940 –> 00:11:31,679 And you can see that that setting of the returning exiles, 230 00:11:31,679 –> 00:11:34,799 rebuilding the city of God is the setting also 231 00:11:34,799 –> 00:11:36,780 of Psalm 126. 232 00:11:36,780 –> 00:11:38,159 Look at verse one. 233 00:11:38,159 –> 00:11:43,159 When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion. 234 00:11:44,059 –> 00:11:46,000 So here are these folks who have been captives 235 00:11:46,000 –> 00:11:48,320 throughout these 70 years. 236 00:11:48,320 –> 00:11:51,200 Many of them have been born during that period of courses. 237 00:11:51,200 –> 00:11:53,280 A few older folks who’ve made the journey back 238 00:11:53,280 –> 00:11:58,179 and it’s a long way from Babylon back to Jerusalem. 239 00:11:58,179 –> 00:12:00,340 Remarkable journey. 240 00:12:00,340 –> 00:12:02,080 Remember all of these songs of ascents 241 00:12:02,080 –> 00:12:05,200 are written as people are returning to Jerusalem. 242 00:12:05,200 –> 00:12:08,679 And this was a very special return to Jerusalem. 243 00:12:08,679 –> 00:12:13,299 The exile’s coming to rebuild the city of God. 244 00:12:14,400 –> 00:12:16,340 Now that’s the setting. 245 00:12:16,340 –> 00:12:17,780 And once you’ve got the setting, 246 00:12:17,780 –> 00:12:20,400 I think that you will quickly see the significance 247 00:12:20,400 –> 00:12:22,419 of these Psalms for us today. 248 00:12:23,479 –> 00:12:28,479 Psalm 126 is divided into two clearly distinct parts 249 00:12:29,479 –> 00:12:31,539 that reflect the journey that every Christian 250 00:12:31,539 –> 00:12:35,020 will experience in life and in ministry. 251 00:12:35,919 –> 00:12:37,780 The two stages are simply number one, 252 00:12:37,780 –> 00:12:40,479 the joy of beginning, 253 00:12:40,479 –> 00:12:44,960 and number two, the difficulty of continuing. 254 00:12:44,960 –> 00:12:46,520 Let’s look at them together. 255 00:12:46,520 –> 00:12:48,400 First, the joy of beginning. 256 00:12:49,619 –> 00:12:54,239 When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, 257 00:12:54,239 –> 00:12:58,119 we were like men who dreamed. 258 00:12:59,359 –> 00:13:00,559 Now you see what’s happening here. 259 00:13:00,559 –> 00:13:02,599 These folks are now back in Jerusalem 260 00:13:02,599 –> 00:13:04,599 and they’re reflecting on what it was like 261 00:13:04,599 –> 00:13:06,280 when they first returned. 262 00:13:07,159 –> 00:13:09,039 They’re now engaged in the hard work 263 00:13:09,039 –> 00:13:11,140 of rebuilding the city of God, 264 00:13:11,140 –> 00:13:13,119 and they’re looking back to what it was like 265 00:13:13,119 –> 00:13:16,280 at the beginning when they made their historic journey 266 00:13:16,280 –> 00:13:18,280 from Babylon to Jerusalem. 267 00:13:18,280 –> 00:13:22,000 When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, 268 00:13:22,000 –> 00:13:26,500 oh at that time, we were like men who dreamed. 269 00:13:27,700 –> 00:13:29,799 Now you see, you can almost feel the excitement 270 00:13:29,799 –> 00:13:31,799 if you think about it. 271 00:13:31,799 –> 00:13:34,479 Here is a new generation 272 00:13:34,500 –> 00:13:36,840 that has discovered its calling. 273 00:13:37,979 –> 00:13:40,440 Here are folks who have the energy 274 00:13:40,440 –> 00:13:42,979 of giving themselves to a vision. 275 00:13:44,320 –> 00:13:46,580 Here are people who’ve seen what it means 276 00:13:46,580 –> 00:13:48,960 to do a new thing for God, 277 00:13:48,960 –> 00:13:52,400 and they’re launching themselves out into ministry. 278 00:13:52,400 –> 00:13:54,799 Imagine the journey, every night they stop, 279 00:13:54,799 –> 00:13:56,760 they build a little campfire. 280 00:13:56,760 –> 00:13:58,140 And they sit around the campfire. 281 00:13:58,140 –> 00:14:00,099 Someone gets out a guitar and they sing some songs. 282 00:14:00,099 –> 00:14:02,880 Well, maybe it wasn’t a guitar, you know what I mean. 283 00:14:02,880 –> 00:14:04,140 And they’re all talking about 284 00:14:04,159 –> 00:14:06,760 what we’re gonna do for God. 285 00:14:06,760 –> 00:14:08,539 They’re all talking about the excitement 286 00:14:08,539 –> 00:14:10,080 of the new ministry, 287 00:14:11,299 –> 00:14:14,280 the impact that they hope to have in the world, 288 00:14:14,280 –> 00:14:15,739 the unbelief that’s around us, 289 00:14:15,739 –> 00:14:18,739 but the greatness of God to overcome it. 290 00:14:18,739 –> 00:14:22,840 It’s a new generation to build a new city, 291 00:14:22,840 –> 00:14:24,520 a new future. 292 00:14:24,520 –> 00:14:25,679 It was all new. 293 00:14:25,679 –> 00:14:27,460 And as they reflect on it, they say, 294 00:14:27,460 –> 00:14:31,700 you know at that time, our mouths were filled with laughter. 295 00:14:32,659 –> 00:14:36,080 In fact, the new venture even got into the newspapers. 296 00:14:36,080 –> 00:14:37,640 Well, not exactly the newspapers, 297 00:14:37,640 –> 00:14:38,840 but you know what I mean. 298 00:14:38,840 –> 00:14:40,119 It says that in verse two, 299 00:14:40,119 –> 00:14:41,919 that even the nations 300 00:14:41,919 –> 00:14:45,239 unbelieving folks who read the newspapers 301 00:14:45,239 –> 00:14:47,320 were saying, well the Lord’s obviously 302 00:14:47,320 –> 00:14:49,679 doing something great down there. 303 00:14:49,679 –> 00:14:52,080 It got some press. 304 00:14:52,080 –> 00:14:53,159 It got some notice. 305 00:14:53,159 –> 00:14:55,880 Something new is happening. 306 00:14:57,859 –> 00:14:59,320 Now, you see, that is how it is 307 00:14:59,320 –> 00:15:02,479 with every new venture for Christ. 308 00:15:03,900 –> 00:15:06,299 A new missionary is sent out by the church. 309 00:15:08,140 –> 00:15:10,359 A man feels called to the ministry. 310 00:15:11,619 –> 00:15:14,359 And so he goes to seminary to train and to prepare. 311 00:15:16,039 –> 00:15:18,219 A new church plant is about to launch 312 00:15:18,219 –> 00:15:21,099 and the core group are meeting in someone’s home 313 00:15:21,099 –> 00:15:23,320 and there’s prayer and there’s energy 314 00:15:23,320 –> 00:15:24,659 and there’s enthusiasm. 315 00:15:24,659 –> 00:15:25,500 There’s faith. 316 00:15:25,500 –> 00:15:27,659 There’s vision like folks have not seen before. 317 00:15:28,640 –> 00:15:31,159 People are experiencing something new and fresh. 318 00:15:31,159 –> 00:15:32,960 It seems like the whole level of everybody’s 319 00:15:32,960 –> 00:15:34,739 spiritual life is going up. 320 00:15:36,059 –> 00:15:37,520 It’s the joy of beginning. 321 00:15:38,440 –> 00:15:39,599 It’s a wonderful thing. 322 00:15:41,320 –> 00:15:44,820 It’s the same by the way when you come to a new church. 323 00:15:44,820 –> 00:15:48,260 You’ve been long enough in the old one to see its works. 324 00:15:48,260 –> 00:15:49,960 So you come to a new one. 325 00:15:49,960 –> 00:15:52,900 But you haven’t been here long enough to see its words. 326 00:15:52,900 –> 00:15:56,080 So you think everything is so wonderful and new. 327 00:15:56,080 –> 00:15:57,359 It’s the joy of beginning. 328 00:15:58,159 –> 00:15:59,739 And it’s the same in any area of life. 329 00:16:01,020 –> 00:16:02,419 You begin a new job. 330 00:16:03,979 –> 00:16:05,619 Everything seems so wonderful. 331 00:16:05,619 –> 00:16:07,020 The people are so friendly, 332 00:16:07,020 –> 00:16:09,299 not like these grouchy old people 333 00:16:09,299 –> 00:16:10,820 you used to have to work with. 334 00:16:13,059 –> 00:16:15,500 It’s the same with the newly married couple 335 00:16:15,500 –> 00:16:18,659 whose head into the sunset for their honeymoon. 336 00:16:19,900 –> 00:16:21,599 And they are absolutely certain 337 00:16:21,599 –> 00:16:23,419 as they are bursting with love 338 00:16:23,419 –> 00:16:26,299 that they will never become dull 339 00:16:26,380 –> 00:16:28,679 and boring like their parents. 340 00:16:31,039 –> 00:16:34,280 The new baby is born and there’s a baby shower 341 00:16:34,280 –> 00:16:36,859 and there’s all the celebration and joy 342 00:16:36,859 –> 00:16:41,299 that rightly goes with every new beginning. 343 00:16:43,200 –> 00:16:44,659 And that’s what they’re talking about. 344 00:16:44,659 –> 00:16:47,780 When we started out, we were like men who dreamed. 345 00:16:47,780 –> 00:16:49,960 Our mouths were filled with laughter. 346 00:16:49,960 –> 00:16:53,380 Our tongues where full of songs of joy. 347 00:16:54,359 –> 00:16:56,559 Everyone who’s made a significant new beginning 348 00:16:56,559 –> 00:16:57,500 knows what that is. 349 00:16:59,979 –> 00:17:02,859 But of course what we find here is that very soon 350 00:17:03,840 –> 00:17:06,260 the joy of beginning gives way 351 00:17:06,260 –> 00:17:08,920 to the difficulty of continuing. 352 00:17:10,000 –> 00:17:11,859 And that of course is what the second half 353 00:17:11,859 –> 00:17:13,280 of the psalm is all about. 354 00:17:13,280 –> 00:17:16,020 And we see this throughout life, you know. 355 00:17:16,020 –> 00:17:18,319 This new baby welcomed with such joy 356 00:17:18,319 –> 00:17:20,199 and such applause won’t stop crying. 357 00:17:20,619 –> 00:17:22,920 And this newly married couple 358 00:17:22,920 –> 00:17:26,599 who are filled with light in their eyes, 359 00:17:26,599 –> 00:17:29,859 they have to sort out the bills and clear the snow 360 00:17:29,859 –> 00:17:33,500 and do all kinds of things that nobody really wants to do. 361 00:17:35,099 –> 00:17:38,000 The new church also turns out to have its problems 362 00:17:38,000 –> 00:17:41,900 as does the new job and the new ministry 363 00:17:41,900 –> 00:17:43,540 that was going to change the world 364 00:17:43,540 –> 00:17:46,300 proves to be much harder than any of us thought. 365 00:17:46,300 –> 00:17:50,900 Much harder than any of us thought. 366 00:17:50,900 –> 00:17:53,400 Now, you see, that is what this psalm is all about. 367 00:17:54,819 –> 00:17:56,300 Here is a community of people 368 00:17:56,300 –> 00:17:59,979 and with great vision and enthusiasm and joy and fanfare, 369 00:17:59,979 –> 00:18:02,739 their have arrived in the ruins of the city of Jerusalem. 370 00:18:02,739 –> 00:18:05,500 They’re going to do something new for God in their time 371 00:18:06,819 –> 00:18:09,339 and now they find that they are having to make a life 372 00:18:09,339 –> 00:18:10,520 in a pile of rubble. 373 00:18:12,319 –> 00:18:13,839 And it’s really hard work. 374 00:18:14,160 –> 00:18:16,359 And according to verse four, 375 00:18:16,359 –> 00:18:18,979 it seems that at times they feel very dry. 376 00:18:20,239 –> 00:18:22,939 Sometimes the extent of the destruction around them, 377 00:18:22,939 –> 00:18:26,739 the devastation of what has happened around them 378 00:18:26,739 –> 00:18:28,380 just seems so overwhelming 379 00:18:28,380 –> 00:18:31,819 that they go to work weeping, verse six. 380 00:18:33,880 –> 00:18:38,300 So you see, Psalm 126 describes this experience 381 00:18:39,699 –> 00:18:43,079 and it raises the major question for all of our lives. 382 00:18:43,079 –> 00:18:46,920 How do you navigate the problems of continuing? 383 00:18:48,020 –> 00:18:49,400 That’s a huge question. 384 00:18:50,800 –> 00:18:54,140 If you and I are to achieve anything of significance 385 00:18:54,140 –> 00:18:56,800 in our lifetime for the Lord. 386 00:18:57,880 –> 00:19:00,819 How do you navigate the problems 387 00:19:00,819 –> 00:19:04,199 of continuing in a dry marriage, 388 00:19:05,900 –> 00:19:07,880 in raising a son or a daughter 389 00:19:07,880 –> 00:19:10,500 who once was welcomed with all this hoopla as a baby 390 00:19:10,500 –> 00:19:14,459 and now as a source of conflict, 391 00:19:15,300 –> 00:19:18,040 anxiety in the home. 392 00:19:20,339 –> 00:19:22,180 How do you sustain a ministry 393 00:19:24,319 –> 00:19:25,219 when it’s so tough, 394 00:19:25,219 –> 00:19:27,400 you really feel like you’d want to quit? 395 00:19:30,640 –> 00:19:32,140 Friend of mine told me that recently 396 00:19:32,140 –> 00:19:35,719 he caught up with a 20th reunion 397 00:19:35,719 –> 00:19:37,900 of the class that he graduated with 398 00:19:37,900 –> 00:19:39,900 from his particular seminary. 399 00:19:41,640 –> 00:19:42,739 He said of all the people 400 00:19:42,739 –> 00:19:44,839 who had gone into pastoral ministry, 401 00:19:44,839 –> 00:19:49,219 50% had quit within 20 years, half. 402 00:19:51,739 –> 00:19:54,719 You look at the attrition rate on the mission field, 403 00:19:54,719 –> 00:19:56,020 you find the same pattern. 404 00:19:57,300 –> 00:20:01,420 Over half of all the missionaries sent out by the church 405 00:20:01,420 –> 00:20:04,199 leave their assignment after the first term. 406 00:20:05,199 –> 00:20:08,000 Now there may be many good reasons for this 407 00:20:08,000 –> 00:20:11,319 and many situations in which that is the right thing to do, 408 00:20:11,319 –> 00:20:14,819 but I’m very sure that one of the factors in this 409 00:20:15,680 –> 00:20:18,880 is that the joys of beginning quickly give way 410 00:20:18,880 –> 00:20:21,199 to the difficulties of continuing. 411 00:20:23,660 –> 00:20:28,660 Three out of every five church plants fail. 412 00:20:30,619 –> 00:20:31,959 Now I don’t say that suggesting 413 00:20:31,959 –> 00:20:33,660 that that’s a reason not to do it. 414 00:20:34,880 –> 00:20:36,079 It’s a good thing to do. 415 00:20:37,280 –> 00:20:40,640 But why is it that three out of every five 416 00:20:40,640 –> 00:20:42,699 attempted church plants fail? 417 00:20:44,680 –> 00:20:46,119 Well, there are many reasons. 418 00:20:47,079 –> 00:20:51,819 One of them is that the joys of beginning are great. 419 00:20:53,160 –> 00:20:57,219 The difficulties of continuing can sometimes be greater. 420 00:20:58,439 –> 00:21:02,280 It is easier to envision something new 421 00:21:03,079 –> 00:21:04,579 than it is to sustain it. 422 00:21:05,939 –> 00:21:09,640 Now, by the way, on a pastoral application here, 423 00:21:10,839 –> 00:21:14,000 that is one of the reasons why we have to be very careful 424 00:21:14,000 –> 00:21:17,959 about living on the adrenaline of new beginnings. 425 00:21:17,959 –> 00:21:20,000 You know what I mean by that? 426 00:21:20,000 –> 00:21:23,599 It’s easy to develop a pattern of life 427 00:21:23,599 –> 00:21:26,079 in which, as soon as you begin to experience 428 00:21:26,079 –> 00:21:28,719 the difficulties of continuing, 429 00:21:28,719 –> 00:21:32,719 you solve the problem by moving to something new. 430 00:21:33,959 –> 00:21:37,319 A new church, a new job, a new ministry, 431 00:21:37,319 –> 00:21:40,420 a new calling, a new relationship, a new vision, 432 00:21:40,420 –> 00:21:43,079 a new approach, a new anything. 433 00:21:45,339 –> 00:21:47,239 There are obviously times when it’s right 434 00:21:47,239 –> 00:21:48,520 to move to something new. 435 00:21:48,520 –> 00:21:50,579 After all, these people who sang this song 436 00:21:50,579 –> 00:21:53,819 were the ones who had the vision to leave Babylon 437 00:21:53,819 –> 00:21:55,920 and to venture out to Jerusalem. 438 00:21:56,920 –> 00:22:00,900 But if you and I are going to accomplish 439 00:22:00,900 –> 00:22:04,199 anything of significance in our lives, 440 00:22:05,439 –> 00:22:08,780 we need to learn how to continue. 441 00:22:11,280 –> 00:22:14,920 Now, think about that as we apply it again 442 00:22:14,920 –> 00:22:17,280 in relation to your Christian life. 443 00:22:18,619 –> 00:22:23,099 See, the Christian life has a marvellous beginning 444 00:22:23,760 –> 00:22:27,000 and it will have a glorious ending, 445 00:22:28,300 –> 00:22:29,579 but it can be very difficult 446 00:22:29,579 –> 00:22:31,479 to sustain in the middle, can’t it? 447 00:22:33,319 –> 00:22:36,699 When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion 448 00:22:36,699 –> 00:22:38,780 we were like men who dreamed. 449 00:22:38,780 –> 00:22:40,540 That’s how it was at the beginning. 450 00:22:41,619 –> 00:22:43,619 By the way, I’ve found it very interesting 451 00:22:43,619 –> 00:22:47,339 to discover this week that the literal translation 452 00:22:47,339 –> 00:22:51,540 of this word dreamed in verse one 453 00:22:51,540 –> 00:22:53,420 would be comforted 454 00:22:54,699 –> 00:22:57,079 and I found that interesting 455 00:22:57,079 –> 00:22:58,719 because it reflects the fact 456 00:22:58,719 –> 00:23:01,579 that the original word used in this psalm 457 00:23:01,579 –> 00:23:03,979 is a form of the word parakalio 458 00:23:04,979 –> 00:23:08,420 from which we get our word paraclete, 459 00:23:08,420 –> 00:23:10,920 which of course was the name that Jesus gave 460 00:23:10,920 –> 00:23:15,280 to the Holy Spirit who was to be poured out at Pentecost. 461 00:23:16,380 –> 00:23:20,060 So taking a very literal translation of this verse 462 00:23:20,060 –> 00:23:22,060 you could render it this way 463 00:23:22,060 –> 00:23:26,699 when the Lord brought back the captives to Zion 464 00:23:26,699 –> 00:23:29,219 we were paracleted. 465 00:23:30,479 –> 00:23:32,380 In other words putting it in the context 466 00:23:32,380 –> 00:23:34,380 of the wider story of scripture 467 00:23:34,380 –> 00:23:36,579 it was just like Pentecost. 468 00:23:37,619 –> 00:23:39,140 We were so full of joy, 469 00:23:39,140 –> 00:23:40,900 we were so full of the Holy Spirit, 470 00:23:40,900 –> 00:23:42,260 we were so full of vision, 471 00:23:42,260 –> 00:23:43,760 we felt so empowered. 472 00:23:45,760 –> 00:23:48,359 Even the unbelieving world was looking at us 473 00:23:48,939 –> 00:23:51,319 well God’s clearly doing something over there. 474 00:23:54,900 –> 00:23:56,579 But now in verse four they’re praying 475 00:23:56,579 –> 00:23:58,920 that God will pour out water 476 00:23:58,920 –> 00:24:01,239 on the dry ground of their lives 477 00:24:01,239 –> 00:24:02,939 and of their ministries 478 00:24:02,939 –> 00:24:03,979 isn’t that interesting? 479 00:24:08,099 –> 00:24:10,239 See isn’t this always how it is? 480 00:24:11,859 –> 00:24:14,140 The apostles were paracleted 481 00:24:14,140 –> 00:24:16,060 on the day of Pentecost. 482 00:24:17,060 –> 00:24:21,119 Then they have to spend future years of their lives 483 00:24:21,119 –> 00:24:24,560 sorting out disputes about things like 484 00:24:24,560 –> 00:24:26,560 meat sacrificed to idols. 485 00:24:26,560 –> 00:24:28,599 I mean who can get interested in that? 486 00:24:30,560 –> 00:24:34,180 Negotiations at the Jerusalem Council church discipline. 487 00:24:37,000 –> 00:24:38,280 The joy of beginning. 488 00:24:39,680 –> 00:24:41,920 The difficulties of continuing. 489 00:24:41,920 –> 00:24:43,439 Isn’t that how it was in 490 00:24:43,439 –> 00:24:45,160 the life and ministry of Jesus? 491 00:24:47,000 –> 00:24:49,140 How does his ministry begin? 492 00:24:49,140 –> 00:24:51,479 He is baptized in the river Jordan 493 00:24:51,479 –> 00:24:54,619 and the Spirit of God descends on him like a dove. 494 00:24:54,619 –> 00:24:55,920 He’s pericleted. 495 00:24:59,500 –> 00:25:03,859 And the voice of the father sounds from heaven. 496 00:25:03,859 –> 00:25:05,079 This is my Son. 497 00:25:06,359 –> 00:25:07,579 What happens next? 498 00:25:09,339 –> 00:25:14,140 The Spirit drives him into the dry place of the wilderness 499 00:25:15,079 –> 00:25:17,459 and there he’s hungry and there he’s thirsty 500 00:25:17,459 –> 00:25:19,859 and there he is tempted again and again 501 00:25:19,859 –> 00:25:21,680 and again by the devil. 502 00:25:24,020 –> 00:25:25,380 And he spends the next three years 503 00:25:25,380 –> 00:25:27,420 seeking to advance his ministry. 504 00:25:27,420 –> 00:25:29,160 Surrounded by a group of disciples 505 00:25:29,160 –> 00:25:31,359 into whose lives he pours himself 506 00:25:32,339 –> 00:25:34,180 and they find it extremely difficult 507 00:25:34,180 –> 00:25:36,459 even to learn the mission statement. 508 00:25:36,459 –> 00:25:38,319 Can’t grasp why he’s here. 509 00:25:38,319 –> 00:25:41,099 Tell him he shouldn’t be going to the cross. 510 00:25:41,099 –> 00:25:43,339 He says, do you still not believe? 511 00:25:44,400 –> 00:25:45,760 Do you still not see? 512 00:25:47,900 –> 00:25:50,140 Son of man has come to seek and save the lost 513 00:25:50,140 –> 00:25:51,339 and here’s James and John saying, 514 00:25:51,339 –> 00:25:52,880 shall we call down fire from heaven 515 00:25:52,880 –> 00:25:54,439 and destroy these lost people? 516 00:25:58,219 –> 00:26:01,219 See, the ministry of Jesus, a magnificent beginning 517 00:26:01,219 –> 00:26:03,079 and of course in his resurrection 518 00:26:03,079 –> 00:26:05,739 a triumphant and glorious end 519 00:26:05,739 –> 00:26:09,699 but difficult to sustain in the middle. 520 00:26:10,699 –> 00:26:13,800 Now you see, that’s how it’s going to be 521 00:26:13,800 –> 00:26:15,199 with your Christian life. 522 00:26:15,199 –> 00:26:16,660 That’s how it is with mine. 523 00:26:18,459 –> 00:26:20,400 When you first become a Christian, 524 00:26:21,780 –> 00:26:26,540 everything seems so fresh and wonderful and new. 525 00:26:26,540 –> 00:26:29,219 Every chorus or hymn that’s sung 526 00:26:29,219 –> 00:26:31,859 seems to be filled with fresh meaning 527 00:26:31,859 –> 00:26:33,040 you’re learning new things. 528 00:26:33,040 –> 00:26:35,099 Oh, you’re seeing it as you never did before. 529 00:26:35,099 –> 00:26:37,880 Your life has a new sense of purpose. 530 00:26:37,880 –> 00:26:39,060 You’re making new friends 531 00:26:39,060 –> 00:26:41,060 within the community of God’s people. 532 00:26:41,060 –> 00:26:41,900 You are learning. 533 00:26:41,900 –> 00:26:42,719 You are growing. 534 00:26:42,719 –> 00:26:44,680 You feel so alive 535 00:26:47,280 –> 00:26:48,939 but there will come a point 536 00:26:50,319 –> 00:26:51,619 where the joy of beginning 537 00:26:52,459 –> 00:26:54,599 gives way to the difficulty of continuing. 538 00:26:56,040 –> 00:26:59,760 You will feel spiritually dry for the very first time 539 00:26:59,760 –> 00:27:02,739 and you will wonder what is wrong with you. 540 00:27:04,300 –> 00:27:06,319 You will have some prayers that are not answered 541 00:27:06,319 –> 00:27:07,239 as you’d hoped. 542 00:27:07,239 –> 00:27:09,660 Some mysteries you cannot resolve. 543 00:27:09,660 –> 00:27:11,640 Questions you cannot answer. 544 00:27:11,640 –> 00:27:13,959 And you will find that the Christian life 545 00:27:13,959 –> 00:27:16,239 that seemed so new becomes familiar 546 00:27:17,339 –> 00:27:21,839 and that what once sparkled now seems more ordinary. 547 00:27:23,819 –> 00:27:25,520 And you see, that is the challenge 548 00:27:25,520 –> 00:27:28,060 of the middle period of the Christian life. 549 00:27:30,500 –> 00:27:32,280 See, we hear a great deal 550 00:27:32,280 –> 00:27:33,719 and rigtly so 551 00:27:33,719 –> 00:27:36,619 about helping new believers to begin well. 552 00:27:37,520 –> 00:27:38,839 There’s a great deal of emphasis, 553 00:27:38,839 –> 00:27:39,880 certainly in recent years, 554 00:27:39,880 –> 00:27:42,959 there has been a lot of emphasis on finishing strong, 555 00:27:45,640 –> 00:27:49,000 but we don’t hear so much about sustaining the middle. 556 00:27:49,000 –> 00:27:50,920 And actually that’s where the great majority 557 00:27:50,920 –> 00:27:51,920 of us are right now. 558 00:27:54,079 –> 00:27:56,020 So let me pose this question. 559 00:27:58,119 –> 00:28:01,839 If the joy of beginning is a long way behind you 560 00:28:02,599 –> 00:28:07,300 and the release of ending is a long way in front of you, 561 00:28:08,819 –> 00:28:11,819 how do you navigate the difficulties 562 00:28:11,819 –> 00:28:14,099 of continuing in the middle? 563 00:28:15,239 –> 00:28:16,239 That’s the question. 564 00:28:17,959 –> 00:28:20,339 And I want to suggest that Psalm 126 565 00:28:20,339 –> 00:28:24,680 offers three very wonderful and very practical strategies 566 00:28:24,680 –> 00:28:25,839 for life in the middle. 567 00:28:27,219 –> 00:28:29,020 The first is praying in hope, 568 00:28:29,020 –> 00:28:30,719 the second, sewing in tears, 569 00:28:30,719 –> 00:28:34,040 and the third, anticipating in faith. 570 00:28:34,040 –> 00:28:36,280 First then praying in hope, verse four. 571 00:28:37,079 –> 00:28:40,160 Restore our fortunes, O Lord, 572 00:28:40,160 –> 00:28:44,040 like streams in the Negev. 573 00:28:44,900 –> 00:28:46,680 Now, the Negev, of course, was a desert, 574 00:28:46,680 –> 00:28:50,800 simply, the word means dry or parched ground. 575 00:28:50,800 –> 00:28:54,199 And to pray for streams in the desert 576 00:28:54,199 –> 00:28:57,479 is to ask for an intervention of God. 577 00:28:57,479 –> 00:28:59,640 Only God sends the rain, 578 00:29:00,979 –> 00:29:02,800 you and I don’t contribute anything to the rain, 579 00:29:02,800 –> 00:29:04,260 even though weather forecasters 580 00:29:04,260 –> 00:29:07,540 don’t contribute to sending the rain. 581 00:29:08,640 –> 00:29:10,239 The rain comes unexpectedly. 582 00:29:10,239 –> 00:29:12,000 I think God delights in confusing 583 00:29:12,000 –> 00:29:14,079 even weather forecasters, don’t you? 584 00:29:14,079 –> 00:29:15,520 Certainly for the number of times 585 00:29:15,520 –> 00:29:17,699 when I have been drenched in the rain in London 586 00:29:17,699 –> 00:29:19,319 because I’ve gone out without a raincoat 587 00:29:19,319 –> 00:29:22,459 and without an umbrella and been caught in a downpour, 588 00:29:22,459 –> 00:29:25,400 I am absolutely certain that the point here 589 00:29:25,400 –> 00:29:29,699 is the unpredictability, the spontaneity 590 00:29:29,699 –> 00:29:31,859 with which God sends the rain. 591 00:29:31,859 –> 00:29:35,239 It is entirely something that he does. 592 00:29:35,239 –> 00:29:38,239 We have no part in it at all. 593 00:29:39,099 –> 00:29:43,459 And this is how the psalmist prays here in the middle 594 00:29:43,459 –> 00:29:45,420 for streams in the desert. 595 00:29:45,420 –> 00:29:48,380 Now, it obviously doesn’t rain often in the desert. 596 00:29:49,260 –> 00:29:51,939 But in Israel, in January, February, March, 597 00:29:51,939 –> 00:29:53,420 it can rain big time. 598 00:29:54,380 –> 00:29:56,219 And because there are so many mountains 599 00:29:56,219 –> 00:29:58,640 and the water flows down from the mountains, 600 00:29:58,640 –> 00:30:01,339 when you get to the Negev, to the desert, 601 00:30:01,339 –> 00:30:04,060 you have water pouring in abundance. 602 00:30:04,060 –> 00:30:06,079 Like, someone after the first service was telling me 603 00:30:06,079 –> 00:30:07,459 that they had been in Israel in March, 604 00:30:07,459 –> 00:30:11,079 they had actually seen this, just cascading water 605 00:30:12,680 –> 00:30:16,040 coming through what had been dry ditches 606 00:30:16,040 –> 00:30:19,439 and ruts and crevices in the sand and in the rock 607 00:30:19,439 –> 00:30:21,800 and just pouring all over the place. 608 00:30:21,800 –> 00:30:23,839 The scribe seeing a couple of buses 609 00:30:23,839 –> 00:30:26,760 unable to pass by four feet of water 610 00:30:26,760 –> 00:30:28,280 coming down through a gully 611 00:30:28,280 –> 00:30:31,020 and then through a pass in the Negev. 612 00:30:32,219 –> 00:30:33,699 That’s how it is. 613 00:30:33,699 –> 00:30:35,239 Now that’s the picture. 614 00:30:35,239 –> 00:30:39,140 God sends the rain and that will bring new life 615 00:30:39,140 –> 00:30:41,640 to this dry ground, restore our fortunes 616 00:30:41,640 –> 00:30:44,680 like streams in the Negev. 617 00:30:44,680 –> 00:30:47,819 Now, I want to suggest that some of us 618 00:30:47,819 –> 00:30:51,060 need to start praying like this. 619 00:30:52,680 –> 00:30:55,839 Maybe you’re in a dry place in your ministry 620 00:30:55,839 –> 00:30:58,800 and you don’t know what to do about it. 621 00:30:58,800 –> 00:31:00,839 Maybe you’re in a dry place in your marriage. 622 00:31:00,839 –> 00:31:02,900 How many husbands or wives have sat 623 00:31:02,900 –> 00:31:05,579 with a pastor or a counselor and he or she 624 00:31:05,579 –> 00:31:07,380 has said, you know, she’ll never change, 625 00:31:07,380 –> 00:31:09,800 he’ll never change, you feel like you’re in a desert, 626 00:31:09,800 –> 00:31:13,099 there’s no source of water that you can see? 627 00:31:15,400 –> 00:31:16,739 But God sends the rain. 628 00:31:18,560 –> 00:31:22,479 And he does so uninvited, unexpected, unplanned, 629 00:31:22,479 –> 00:31:26,260 unprovoked, whether or not it’s wanted? 630 00:31:27,260 –> 00:31:31,520 This is an image of the free-flowing in-breaking of God 631 00:31:31,520 –> 00:31:34,079 and the psalmist prays for it. 632 00:31:37,680 –> 00:31:40,260 You see, the danger, when we’re in dry ground 633 00:31:40,260 –> 00:31:43,119 in the middle period of life is that we lose hope, 634 00:31:45,140 –> 00:31:49,219 that you settle for accepting that this is how it is 635 00:31:49,219 –> 00:31:50,920 and it never will be any different, 636 00:31:50,979 –> 00:31:55,900 in personal life and the unbelief of this world, 637 00:31:55,900 –> 00:31:58,000 the limitations of the church, 638 00:31:59,380 –> 00:32:01,859 that you’re in a rut and that there’s no way out of it. 639 00:32:01,859 –> 00:32:05,239 Listen, God can turn a rut into a river. 640 00:32:06,819 –> 00:32:08,619 That’s what he does in the negeth. 641 00:32:11,180 –> 00:32:14,000 God can make the desert blossom like a rose. 642 00:32:14,000 –> 00:32:18,920 God is the God who brings new life from the dead 643 00:32:18,920 –> 00:32:23,199 and there isn’t anything that you or I contribute to that. 644 00:32:24,839 –> 00:32:26,880 Never lose sight of the possibility 645 00:32:26,880 –> 00:32:29,500 that God can break into your life, 646 00:32:29,500 –> 00:32:31,479 into the life of someone you love, 647 00:32:32,680 –> 00:32:34,099 into the life of his people, 648 00:32:34,099 –> 00:32:36,540 into the life of a community or a nation 649 00:32:36,540 –> 00:32:39,439 in ways that you would never expect. 650 00:32:41,680 –> 00:32:43,199 Lord, pour out your Spirit. 651 00:32:45,000 –> 00:32:48,459 Let the water of your life fall upon us. 652 00:32:49,900 –> 00:32:53,660 Do in the desert what we have no other hope of seeing 653 00:32:53,660 –> 00:32:57,680 apart from your free-flowing spontaneous intervention. 654 00:33:02,560 –> 00:33:04,239 And if you know a God, 655 00:33:04,239 –> 00:33:06,479 who can send torrents into a desert, 656 00:33:08,219 –> 00:33:11,199 and you know a God who can bring new life from the dead, 657 00:33:12,540 –> 00:33:15,880 you will never give up hope. 658 00:33:16,400 –> 00:33:18,119 So pray with hope. 659 00:33:20,540 –> 00:33:22,780 Second, sow in tears. 660 00:33:22,780 –> 00:33:25,219 Verse 5, those who sow in tears 661 00:33:25,219 –> 00:33:29,439 will reap with songs of joy. 662 00:33:29,439 –> 00:33:33,359 Now notice the contrast with this picture. 663 00:33:33,359 –> 00:33:36,500 The rain is all about divine intervention, 664 00:33:38,160 –> 00:33:41,079 the sowing of seed is about human initiative. 665 00:33:41,859 –> 00:33:44,760 It’s very significant that these two are healthy 666 00:33:44,920 –> 00:33:46,760 and that these two are held together. 667 00:33:46,760 –> 00:33:49,780 Lord I pray that you will do what I could not do 668 00:33:49,780 –> 00:33:52,640 and cannot even begin to think of. 669 00:33:54,920 –> 00:33:58,140 But at the same time Lord, I will take the initiative 670 00:33:58,140 –> 00:34:02,719 with the seed that you put into my hand to sow, in tears. 671 00:34:04,060 –> 00:34:05,880 You see, if our first temptation 672 00:34:05,880 –> 00:34:08,739 in the difficulties of the middle stretch 673 00:34:08,739 –> 00:34:12,520 is to stop hoping, then our second temptation 674 00:34:12,520 –> 00:34:13,840 is to stop working. 675 00:34:15,439 –> 00:34:18,800 That we become so overwhelmed by the sheer extent 676 00:34:18,800 –> 00:34:20,219 of the tragedy around us, 677 00:34:20,219 –> 00:34:23,100 the sheer intensity of the pain within us, 678 00:34:24,399 –> 00:34:26,600 that we give up and we say, what’s the point? 679 00:34:28,760 –> 00:34:31,439 We received some pictures this week 680 00:34:31,439 –> 00:34:34,159 of a member of our own church family 681 00:34:34,159 –> 00:34:37,679 who’s been serving the Lord in Indonesia for many years. 682 00:34:38,840 –> 00:34:42,199 Mike’s one of those who’s involved in the massive effort 683 00:34:42,199 –> 00:34:44,679 to bring aid and relief 684 00:34:44,679 –> 00:34:46,580 to people suffering after the tsunami. 685 00:34:47,780 –> 00:34:51,879 Mike is sowing in tears. 686 00:34:54,939 –> 00:34:58,120 Some of us are facing tremendous brokenness 687 00:34:58,120 –> 00:35:00,679 in our own lives right now, 688 00:35:02,459 –> 00:35:06,219 and there are plenty of tears and you face a choice, 689 00:35:08,060 –> 00:35:11,719 either you give way to despair in your tears, 690 00:35:13,199 –> 00:35:16,959 or you start sowing in your tears. 691 00:35:20,360 –> 00:35:21,699 For A Future Harvest, 692 00:35:24,419 –> 00:35:26,639 happened to be listening to Joni Erickson 693 00:35:26,639 –> 00:35:28,860 traveling in the car on the radio this week. 694 00:35:30,399 –> 00:35:32,260 She told a beautiful story about a lady 695 00:35:32,260 –> 00:35:34,179 who’d gone through multiple tragedies 696 00:35:34,179 –> 00:35:36,020 in her life in a short space of time, 697 00:35:36,020 –> 00:35:37,020 you know how this sometimes happens, 698 00:35:37,020 –> 00:35:38,419 it’s one thing and then another, 699 00:35:38,419 –> 00:35:40,899 you think what more can happen to this one person, 700 00:35:41,899 –> 00:35:43,540 and she was at church on Sunday 701 00:35:43,540 –> 00:35:46,100 and her pastor, as she was leaving the sanctuary, 702 00:35:46,100 –> 00:35:47,360 had just taken her by the arm 703 00:35:47,360 –> 00:35:49,300 and had said to her in a kindly way, 704 00:35:49,300 –> 00:35:52,239 I just want you to know we’re praying for you. 705 00:35:52,239 –> 00:35:54,379 Quick as a flash she said, 706 00:35:54,379 –> 00:35:57,239 well thank you, what are you praying? 707 00:35:57,239 –> 00:35:58,239 It’s a good question. 708 00:35:59,360 –> 00:36:01,620 And he said, well we’re praying that the Lord 709 00:36:01,620 –> 00:36:03,500 will help you, that he’ll sustain you, 710 00:36:03,500 –> 00:36:04,919 that he’ll comfort you. 711 00:36:06,820 –> 00:36:07,959 And she said, well thank you so much. 712 00:36:07,959 –> 00:36:10,520 And then she said, will you pray one more thing? 713 00:36:11,899 –> 00:36:16,540 Pray that I won’t come out of this empty handed. 714 00:36:17,560 –> 00:36:18,959 That’s a good thing to pray. 715 00:36:21,219 –> 00:36:24,520 Don’t waste your tears. 716 00:36:27,580 –> 00:36:29,760 See, when you go through the most agonizing 717 00:36:29,760 –> 00:36:32,399 experiences of life, as these people were finding 718 00:36:32,399 –> 00:36:34,979 in the difficulties of sustaining ministry, 719 00:36:36,139 –> 00:36:39,780 they had a choice either to shrivel up in their tears 720 00:36:41,120 –> 00:36:43,419 or to go out and do some sewing in their tears. 721 00:36:45,399 –> 00:36:46,979 This is what they discovered. 722 00:36:48,620 –> 00:36:51,379 That those who go out sewing in tears 723 00:36:52,620 –> 00:36:55,939 will reap the songs of joy. 724 00:36:55,939 –> 00:36:58,260 That leads me to the last thing just very briefly. 725 00:36:58,260 –> 00:37:03,060 Praying in hope, sewing in tears, 726 00:37:03,060 –> 00:37:04,459 how do you sustain it in the middle? 727 00:37:04,459 –> 00:37:06,860 Thirdly, anticipating in faith. 728 00:37:06,860 –> 00:37:08,419 He who goes out verse six, 729 00:37:08,439 –> 00:37:10,379 weeping, carrying seed to sow, 730 00:37:10,379 –> 00:37:12,340 will return with songs of joy, 731 00:37:12,340 –> 00:37:14,379 carrying sheaves with him. 732 00:37:14,379 –> 00:37:16,620 You see, the middle is not the end. 733 00:37:16,620 –> 00:37:18,060 Isn’t that good? 734 00:37:18,060 –> 00:37:19,860 The middle is not the end. 735 00:37:20,879 –> 00:37:22,540 And what you see now, 736 00:37:22,540 –> 00:37:25,679 is not how things will be in the end. 737 00:37:26,659 –> 00:37:29,459 If you belong to Christ, 738 00:37:29,459 –> 00:37:31,739 then the ultimate outcome of your life 739 00:37:31,739 –> 00:37:34,800 will not be shame or ruin or destruction, 740 00:37:34,800 –> 00:37:37,939 the ultimate outcome of your life will not be tears. 741 00:37:37,979 –> 00:37:39,840 The ultimate outcome of your life 742 00:37:39,840 –> 00:37:43,300 will be to live for eternity as a son or a daughter of God 743 00:37:43,300 –> 00:37:46,100 that reflects his image perfectly. 744 00:37:48,300 –> 00:37:49,899 So, don’t give up in the middle, 745 00:37:51,979 –> 00:37:53,419 because that will be the end, 746 00:37:55,239 –> 00:37:57,699 and the outcome of God’s kingdom in this world 747 00:37:57,699 –> 00:38:00,300 is not going to be that it will be swept away 748 00:38:00,300 –> 00:38:02,679 by a tide of oppression in the east 749 00:38:02,679 –> 00:38:05,760 or by a tide of post-modernism in the west. 750 00:38:06,479 –> 00:38:11,479 No, the upshot of the work of Christ’s kingdom, 751 00:38:11,600 –> 00:38:15,479 the end of it, will be that Christ’s people 752 00:38:15,479 –> 00:38:18,080 will be gathered with their savior in his presence 753 00:38:18,080 –> 00:38:22,479 and every seat at the banqueting table will be full. 754 00:38:25,620 –> 00:38:30,500 So, to put it in the words of the beginning of Psalm 125, 755 00:38:32,199 –> 00:38:35,379 those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion. 756 00:38:36,699 –> 00:38:39,320 Which cannot be shaken but endures forever, 757 00:38:41,000 –> 00:38:43,260 as the mountains surround Jerusalem 758 00:38:44,560 –> 00:38:49,560 so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore. 759 00:38:51,580 –> 00:38:53,080 Let’s pray together, shall we? 760 00:38:56,600 –> 00:39:00,659 Father all of us can quickly relate to so many ways 761 00:39:00,659 –> 00:39:03,139 in which we’ve experienced the joys of beginning 762 00:39:04,139 –> 00:39:08,080 and now we’re facing the difficulties of continuing. 763 00:39:10,260 –> 00:39:12,639 And as your Spirit applies that in many, many, 764 00:39:12,639 –> 00:39:14,659 many different ways to our hearts, 765 00:39:16,300 –> 00:39:20,439 we bow before you, let us not give up hope. 766 00:39:22,060 –> 00:39:24,260 In fact right now we cry to you praying 767 00:39:24,260 –> 00:39:27,899 and hope that you will pour out your Spirit 768 00:39:27,899 –> 00:39:31,100 afresh in a wonderful way upon the dry ground. 769 00:39:31,659 –> 00:39:34,239 Oh God, hear our prayer. 770 00:39:36,379 –> 00:39:37,959 And thank you that in sending the rain 771 00:39:37,959 –> 00:39:40,320 you remind us that you’re the God 772 00:39:40,320 –> 00:39:42,439 who does the unplanned, the unpredictable, 773 00:39:42,439 –> 00:39:44,580 the unexpected, the uninvited. 774 00:39:47,739 –> 00:39:49,320 Thank you that you’re the God 775 00:39:49,320 –> 00:39:52,120 who can make a desert blossom like a rose, 776 00:39:52,120 –> 00:39:54,659 the God who brings new life from the dead. 777 00:39:56,560 –> 00:39:58,840 Let us not give way to despair today 778 00:39:58,840 –> 00:40:00,199 but put our trust in you. 779 00:40:02,100 –> 00:40:04,020 And in the pain and in the tears, 780 00:40:04,020 –> 00:40:06,899 let us not withdraw but rather move out in sowing, 781 00:40:08,500 –> 00:40:11,419 confident that as we follow in obedience and in faith 782 00:40:11,419 –> 00:40:13,500 in all that you’re calling us to do now, 783 00:40:15,979 –> 00:40:17,580 that there will be a harvest. 784 00:40:20,179 –> 00:40:22,159 Lord, let us not waste the tears. 785 00:40:24,419 –> 00:40:25,959 Let us learn to sow in them 786 00:40:27,379 –> 00:40:29,439 and not come out from them empty-handed. 787 00:40:31,919 –> 00:40:33,600 And thank you, thank you Lord, 788 00:40:33,600 –> 00:40:35,300 that the middle is not the end, 789 00:40:38,340 –> 00:40:41,139 that what we see now is what not what one day will be. 790 00:40:43,219 –> 00:40:46,020 That already you hold before us the day of joy 791 00:40:47,439 –> 00:40:49,219 when the whole harvest will be brought in 792 00:40:49,219 –> 00:40:51,340 and all your purposes will be complete 793 00:40:51,340 –> 00:40:53,379 and all your people will be gathered together 794 00:40:53,379 –> 00:40:54,760 in that new Jerusalem 795 00:40:56,540 –> 00:40:58,659 and every tear will be white from our eyes. 796 00:40:59,659 –> 00:41:02,919 Lord sustain us until that day we pray. 797 00:41:04,020 –> 00:41:07,100 Through Jesus Christ our Lord we ask these prayers. 798 00:41:08,919 –> 00:41:09,739 Amen.