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The erosive effect of a hostile culture, the loss of a cherished role in
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life and in ministry, the feeling that God is far away
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at the very time when you feel you need him the most.
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These were the experiences of David.
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These were the experiences of Jesus.
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And there may be times when they are your experience too.
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Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith.
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I’m David Pick and Colin, there may be people who will relate
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to these experiences, maybe it’s happening right now.
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How does knowing that David experienced this and also Jesus
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help us today?
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Well first, just the very obvious fact that it’s not unusual.
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If the perfect son of God should have experienced things
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like this, then we should not be surprised if we do as well.
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And then, this is not the end, it’s not terminal,
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that these are experiences in the Christian life
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and that those have gone before us and our Lord Himself
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has overcome in these experiences.
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And therefore, when you feel that God is far away from you,
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when you feel that the bottom has fallen
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out of your world, there is hope.
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There is something beyond this
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and you can trust God even here.
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And that’s the beauty of this Psalm that we’re looking at.
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We’re going to see how David found his way back
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to hope at a time when despair seemed
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to be knocking at his door.
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Well, let’s look at Psalm 42 together
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as we continue our message, hope in God.
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Here’s Colin.
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We live in a changing world
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and we need the help of the unchanging God
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and you know, Jesus has been there too.
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And for three years, he enjoyed all the blessings
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of the most marvellous ministry.
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My food, he said, is to do the will of him who sent me.
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In other words, Jesus found the very engagement
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in ministry that he was given to be nothing
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and it was given to be nourishing to his own soul.
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It was a joy, it’s a blessing, it’s a delight
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and then it’s all taken away.
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The disciples abandoned him,
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He is surrounded by darkness,
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he goes into the Garden of Gethsemane
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and He says, My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow.
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But the biggest problem on top of all that
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was the felt distance of God.
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Notice what David says at the beginning of the Psalm,
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as a deer pants for flowing streams,
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so my soul pants for you, oh God,
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my soul thirsts for God,
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for the Living God,
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when shall I come and appear before God.
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See, David could face a hostile environment,
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difficult though that was,
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David could endure even the loss of a cherished role
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that he had loved.
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He could do these things if he felt that God was near,
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but you see the problem here is that God felt far away
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from David, just at the very moment
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where David felt he needed the Lord the most.
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There was a priest in the 16th century
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known as John of the Cross
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and he coined a phrase
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that describes what David was enduring here.
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He called it the dark night of the soul.
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Isaiah knew what this was like,
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he says in Isaiah 45 and verse 15
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to the Lord,
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You know that experience,
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a feeling that you’re just seeking God,
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you need his help
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and you feel like he’s hiding from you?
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Now can this really be the experience of a godly person?
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Well, remember this was the experience
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of our Lord Jesus himself.
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Jesus knew what he was enduring here.
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He really did,
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and the experience of what became of
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Jesus knew what it was to feel that the Father was far away
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just when he needed him the most.
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My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’
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Now this psalm really helps us.
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It helps us not only by describing
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the darker experiences
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that may come to a Christian in the course of life,
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some of the harder things that we may endure
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in following after Christ,
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but it also identifies not only the experience
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but the cause that may lie behind these experiences.
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The erosive effects of a hostile culture,
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the loss of a cherished role in life and in ministry,
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the feeling that God is far away
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the very time when you feel you need him the most.
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These were the experiences of David.
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These were the experiences of Jesus.
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And there may be times when they are your experience, too.
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But what I want us to see today
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is that despite all that David was enduring,
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he was moved by the Holy Spirit
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to write a Psalm that focuses on hope.
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That’s what this Psalm is about.
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At the very centre of it
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repeated three times as we have seen.
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Hope in God, verse 5.
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Hope in God, verse 11.
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Hope in God, Psalm 43 and verse 5.
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Now, the aim of the series over these next weeks
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is that we will grow in hope.
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I want to be very practical.
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And so I want us to see four strategies from this psalm
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as to how we can grow in hope.
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The first of these is to speak honestly to God.
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You see how that’s what David does here.
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Look at verse 9.
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I say to God, my rock.
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Why have you forgotten me?
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Why do I go mourning?
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Because of the oppression of the enemy.
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Now notice that he says these things to God.
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You don’t need to feel close to God in order to pray.
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You can pray, as David does here,
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even when you feel that God has forgotten you.
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You can pray to God when you feel far from him.
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You can pray to God when you don’t feel like praying.
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You can tell him that you feel forgotten.
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You can tell him that you feel oppressed.
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You can tell him that you feel absolutely, completely,
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and utterly dried out.
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You can tell him that your stomach is churning
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and that you are in turmoil.
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That’s what Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane.
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My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow,
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and he says it to the Father.’
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The presence of God is one place
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where you can be absolutely safe in being yourself.
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There is nothing that you can tell him
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that he doesn’t know already.
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He knows you completely.
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And therefore there is a freedom that you have to come
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and to speak to God in every circumstance,
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and that’s the first thing that David does here.
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That’s what the psalm is.
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It’s a prayer.
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It’s a pouring out of his soul in the presence of God.
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That’s the first thing, but it’s not the only thing.
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Second, challenge yourself.
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If you’re going to grow in hope,
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you need to speak honestly to God,
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and if you’re going to grow in hope,
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you really need to challenge yourself.
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Look again at verse 5.
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Why are you cast down, O my soul?
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and, Why are you in turmoil within me?
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Now notice that in this verse,
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David is not speaking to God.
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He’s speaking to himself.
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He’s addressing his own soul.
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Why are you cast down, O my soul?
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Now, it’s very important to learn to do this.
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Martin Lloyd-Jones, who writes so helpfully on this
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from Psalm 42 asks this question.
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Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life
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is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself
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rather than talking to yourself?
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Most of your unhappiness comes from this, he says.
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You listen to all the thoughts and the fears,
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all the questions and doubts,
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all the forebodings that rise up from within your own soul.
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You listen to all that, but you don’t talk to yourself.
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You’re listening to yourself but not talking to yourself.
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So understand this, that your soul will throw up
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all kinds of fears.
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There will be times when you feel dried out
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and downcast and forgotten.
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What are you to do when these times come?
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Well, you do what David does here.
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He takes himself in hand and he challenges himself.
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He scolds himself.
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If I can put it this way, he gives himself
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a good talking to.
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And this Psalm gives us a marvelous model
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of how to do this.
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How to reason with yourself.
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Spurgeon makes this comment,
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David’s faith reasons with his fears
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and his hope argues with his sorrows.
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Again, Lloyd-Jones says,
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this self of ours
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has got to be handled.
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Don’t listen to him, Lloyd-Jones says.
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Turn on him, speak to him.
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Condemn him, upbraid him,
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exhort him, encourage him.
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Remind him of what you know
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instead of placidly listening to him
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and allowing him to drag you down.
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I wonder if you’ve experienced that.
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You listen sometimes to all the thoughts
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and all the fears and all the forebodings
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that are coming up from within.
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How am I going to manage this?
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What happens is because you’re listening
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to all the stuff that’s coming up
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from your soul, it’s dragging you down.
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And Dr. Lloyd-Jones is saying,
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instead of placidly listening to all of that stuff,
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here’s what you do.
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You tell it to God and then you challenge yourself.
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That’s what David does here.
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Now, why are you cast down, oh my soul?
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Why are you so in turmoil, disturbed within me?
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Put your hope in God as he’s challenging himself.
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Now, notice how he does this
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and takes us to the third strategy.
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Affirm what you know to be true, hope in God,
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hope in God.
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Now, this is what David says to his dried out,
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tearful, downcast, turmoiled, forgotten,
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mourning and oppressed self.
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He takes his self in hand
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and he says to himself, hope in God.
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There’s hope for you.
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And the hope for you is in God himself.
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The Apostle Paul says exactly the same thing
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in the New Testament in 1 Timothy 4 and verse 10.
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He says, we toil and strive,
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and what energises us to keep toiling and keep striving?
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Well, this is the reason, we toil and strive
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because we have set our hope on the living God.
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We have hope in the living God,
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and that’s what gives us the energy to keep going
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and to continue to toil and continue to strive.
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Don’t let the darkness around you dictate the conversation.
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Hope in God, who He is, what He has done, what He will do.
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David keeps reminding himself,
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almost drip feeding throughout this psalm.
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While all of these fears are coming up,
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they’re being answered by what he says in regards to God.
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He’s the living God, verse two.
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He’s the God of my life, verse eight.
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He’s my rock, verse eight.
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He’s my God and my salvation, verses five and verse 11.
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In verse 11.
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We’re thinking about growing in hope today
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and that word growing is a key part of that.
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It’s not an instantaneous process.
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And as we wait on God,
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what’s the right attitude we should have
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in that time of waiting?
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We’ll come back in a moment and look at that.
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You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith
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and the message called Hope in God.
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It’s part of our series, Growing in Faith, Hope and Love.
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And if you’ve missed any of the series
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or if you’ve tuned in late,
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don’t forget you can always go back
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and listen again online at our website,
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openthebible.org.uk,
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or you can find us as a podcast
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and those are available on all the major podcasting sites,
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search for openthebible.uk
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and subscribe to receive regular updates.
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Back to the message.
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Now we’re in Psalm 42.
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Here’s Colin.
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How can we grow in hope?
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Well, here’s how David does it
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and here’s how we can grow in hope.
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You speak honestly to God,
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you tell him the truth
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about all that’s coming up from within your soul
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but then you take yourself in hand,
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you challenge yourself
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and the way that you do that
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is that you affirm what you know to be true about God.
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Then one more thing,
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you wait expectantly on God.
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Look again at verse five.
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Hope in God
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for I shall again praise him,
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my salvation and my God.
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Now you read that verse, verse five
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of Psalm 42
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and you think that would be the most marvelous ending
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for this Psalm
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but of course, it doesn’t end there.
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Notice you see,
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he makes this marvelous confession of faith,
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hope in God, I’m gonna praise him again
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and within four verses,
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he’s saying to God,
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well now why have you forgotten me, verse nine.
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It feels almost as if he’s gone back
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to where he started.
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So you see, he has to give himself
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another good talking to.
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Verse 11,
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Why are you cast down, O my soul?
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Why are you in turmoil within me?
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Hope in God,
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for I shall yet praise him,
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my Salvation and my God.
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Well, you think now that’s it.
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That’s the end of the Psalm.
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That’s the moment of triumph,
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except that it’s not.
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Remember Psalm 42 and Psalm 43,
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almost certainly written as one composition
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at the beginning.
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And so you go forward another couple of verses
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into Psalm 43.
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And now he’s asking God aby have you rejected me?
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Why do I go about mourning?
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Because of the oppression of my enemy.
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So he has to take himself in hand again!
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Chapter 43 in verse 5.
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Why are you cast down oh my soul?
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And why are you in turmoil within me?
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Hope in God.
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Hope in God,
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for I shall again praise him,
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my Salvation and my God.
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I thank God that this is in the Bible
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because you know what this is like.
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As I do.
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You struggle to deal with something
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that has really hurt you.
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And you think you’ve got over it.
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I’ve been able to forgive.
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And then the resentment comes back
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and you wonder if you’ve really made any progress.
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You think you’ve come to terms with a great loss
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in your life beginning to find my way now.
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But then you find that you’re thrown back
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into turmoil all over again.
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And you say, you know,
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I just seem to be right back where I started.
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You think that you’ve dealt with these fears
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but you find that you still have a battle on your hands.
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And you say, will I ever be done with this?
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I don’t seem to be making any progress at all.
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Now, when you read these psalms,
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it does seem like they’re going round in circles
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and indeed, when you face great darkness
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that is exactly what it is like.
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You think you’ve won through
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and then you find yourself back in the thick of the battle
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all over again.
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And you may well feel, well, am I really getting anywhere?
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I just don’t seem to be making any progress.
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I’m just going around in circles.
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Let me give you a picture to encourage you.
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Imagine a steep mountain
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and a long winding road
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that goes all the way around the bottom
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and then gradually drifts over
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around the bottom
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and then gradually as it circles the mountain
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works its way up towards the summit.
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You travel on the road
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and as you’re driving round the mountain
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you keep seeing the same view.
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First you’re seeing the view looking North
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then you’re seeing the view looking West
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then you’re seeing the view looking South
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then you’re seeing the view looking East
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and then you’re back to the same old view
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looking North again.
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And the kids are in the back of the car
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and they’re saying,
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we’ve seen this before,
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we’re just going round in circles.
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And of course that is true.
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But at the same time you are getting higher
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and if you keep going
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you will reach the top of the mountain.
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I shall again praise him,
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my salvation and my God.
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So let this psalm be an encouragement to you.
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Some victories take longer than others.
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And the whole point of the psalm surely
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is that David keeps on seeking the Lord
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even when he seems far away.
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Even when he seems far away.
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He keeps on challenging himself because he needs it.
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He keeps affirming what he knows to be true,
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there’s hope for you in God.
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And he keeps anticipating the deliverance
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that will one day be his, I shall again praise him.
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And he wins through because he does not give up.
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I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
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The lips that once said, God has forgotten me.
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Will say God has delivered me because he’s my God
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and he’s my salvation.
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I hope you can echo the words of the Psalmist today
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that you know that God is your hope,
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he has delivered you, he is your salvation.
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Maybe as you listen,
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you realize this isn’t your experience,
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but you want it to be.
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If you want to know more about the Christian faith
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I hope you’ll take the opportunity
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to talk with a trusted Christian friend
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or family member
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or get yourself along to a local Christian fellowship.
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Look out for The Alpha Course.
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Many churches run these courses each year
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and it’s a great way to find answers to questions
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and to move you further on in your Christian journey.
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You can link with Alpha online at alpha.org.
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That’s alpha.org.
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You’ve been listening to Open The Bible
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with Pastor Colin Smith
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on a message today called Applied Faith.
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It’s part of our series, Growing In Faith, Hope & Love.
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And if you’ve missed any of the series
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you can always go back and listen again
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online at our website, openthebible.org.uk.
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Also find us as a podcast.
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Go to your favorite podcast site
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and search for Open the Bible UK.
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Whether you listen to Open the Bible on the radio,
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on our website or as a podcast
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it’s your generosity
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that keeps Pastor Colin’s messages available.
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So thank you for supporting the ministry.
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If that’s something you thought about doing in the future
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and you’re able to give five pounds per month
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to Open the Bible starting this month,
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we’d love to say thank you
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by sending you a copy of Jerry Bridges’ book,
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Respectable Sins.
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Colin, how is this book helpful for you?
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Well, I find it helpful in my own life in three ways.
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I mean, the first is that Jerry Bridges identifies
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some of these sins that can easily hide
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in our hearts as Christian believers.
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And, you know,
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you can’t fight against what you don’t see.
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You can’t confess what you don’t see.
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So the first thing is to be able
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to see what might be lurking there
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and that’s the great value of this book.
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So when you’re able to identify
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what you need to be fighting against more strongly,
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then the next thing to do is to confess it,
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to seek the cleansing of the blood of Christ,
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and then to begin to fight against it.
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And Jerry Bridges has a chapter in here
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that is absolutely worth its weight in gold.
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It’s certainly well worth getting the whole book for.
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Directions for Dealing With Sins.
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How are you going to deal with the sins
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that lurk in your heart and in your life?
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He gives seven very practical directions.
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It’s worth its weight in gold.
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So this is a treasure.
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It really helps us to move forward
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so we don’t just become an older version
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of the person we were before,
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but actually become someone who’s more and more
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like the Lord Jesus Christ,
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which is what every Christian really wants.
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Jerry Bridges’ book, Respectable Sins is our gift to you
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if you were able to begin a new donation
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00:24:41,839 –> 00:24:43,520
to the work of Open The Bible
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00:24:43,520 –> 00:24:46,560
in the amount of five pounds per month or more.
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To receive actual details of this offer
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and to give online, come to our website,
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OpenTheBible.org.uk.
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For Open The Bible and Pastor Colin Smith,
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I’m David Pick, and I hope you’ll be able to
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join us again next time on Open The Bible.
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Hope comes from God through Jesus Christ.
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Find out more next time on Open The Bible.
