1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:04,680 Well, will you open your Bibles, please, at Psalm 73. 2 00:00:04,680 –> 00:00:12,320 We’re going to spend the whole of the next month in this one, very, very special psalm. 3 00:00:12,320 –> 00:00:20,959 The series is called, I Almost Gave Up, Practical Help for Discouraged Believers. 4 00:00:20,959 –> 00:00:26,139 And it’s all about the issue of persevering. 5 00:00:26,299 –> 00:00:35,580 Persevering in faith, persevering in ministry, persevering in life. 6 00:00:35,580 –> 00:00:43,580 Psalm 73 is really a personal testimony about a man who came to a great crisis of discouragement 7 00:00:43,580 –> 00:00:44,959 in his own life. 8 00:00:44,959 –> 00:00:52,299 He tells us about how he nearly lost his faith, despite the fact that he was known as a mature 9 00:00:52,299 –> 00:00:53,860 believer. 10 00:00:53,860 –> 00:00:59,939 But God helped him and he found his way through the crisis to an even stronger faith than 11 00:00:59,939 –> 00:01:01,900 he had known before. 12 00:01:01,900 –> 00:01:08,160 Psalm 73 has been described as the Book of Job in a nutshell. 13 00:01:08,160 –> 00:01:13,040 That’s what it is, and that’s going to be our theme over these next weeks. 14 00:01:13,040 –> 00:01:18,260 Now if you look at the top of Psalm 73—and we’re going to read the first half of it 15 00:01:18,260 –> 00:01:23,339 in a few moments’ time—but if you look at the top of it, you will see there that 16 00:01:23,419 –> 00:01:28,199 we are told that this was a Psalm written by Asaph. 17 00:01:28,199 –> 00:01:33,080 And I think we’re going to come to know this man Asaph as a familiar friend. 18 00:01:33,080 –> 00:01:39,220 Asaph was one of the men who King David put in charge of music in the house of the Lord. 19 00:01:39,220 –> 00:01:43,739 You can read about that in 1 Chronicles chapter 6 in verse 39. 20 00:01:43,739 –> 00:01:49,720 He was in the procession when David brought the Ark of the Covenant back to the city of 21 00:01:49,720 –> 00:01:51,180 Jerusalem. 22 00:01:51,220 –> 00:01:56,599 And after that, the Bible tells us that David appointed some of the Levites to minister 23 00:01:56,599 –> 00:02:02,080 before the Ark of the Lord to make petition, to give thanks, to praise the Lord the God 24 00:02:02,080 –> 00:02:03,099 of Israel. 25 00:02:03,099 –> 00:02:10,300 And then it says Asaph was the chief, so he was in charge of prayer for the whole body. 26 00:02:10,300 –> 00:02:12,699 He played the symbols. 27 00:02:12,699 –> 00:02:15,259 He led the music. 28 00:02:15,259 –> 00:02:18,320 So Asaph was a man in full-time ministry. 29 00:02:18,320 –> 00:02:20,619 He was a mature believer. 30 00:02:20,619 –> 00:02:26,820 He was a godly man, and God had put him in a position of great responsibility. 31 00:02:26,820 –> 00:02:31,320 But what he tells us in this marvelous psalm that he writes under the inspiration of the 32 00:02:31,320 –> 00:02:39,380 Holy Spirit is that he came to a point where even in the middle of ministry he nearly lost 33 00:02:39,380 –> 00:02:41,479 his own faith. 34 00:02:42,000 –> 00:02:50,720 And I have to tell you, I find it very, very helpful to know that even the greatest believers 35 00:02:50,720 –> 00:02:57,559 have experienced times of great crisis where it seemed that everything was falling apart 36 00:02:57,559 –> 00:03:00,100 in their lives. 37 00:03:00,100 –> 00:03:07,839 I have to tell you personally that over the years God has used this psalm, more than any 38 00:03:07,960 –> 00:03:14,460 other part of Scripture, to get me through some of the hardest times in my own life. 39 00:03:14,460 –> 00:03:21,880 Asaph has become a friend who has been a means of God’s grace to get me out of a black hole 40 00:03:21,880 –> 00:03:22,960 more than once. 41 00:03:22,960 –> 00:03:31,220 I think of times down the road where I’ve said, I need to go back to Psalm 73. 42 00:03:31,220 –> 00:03:35,940 And I hope that as a result of this month that we will be encouraged, that we will be 43 00:03:35,940 –> 00:03:40,639 strengthened and that we will feel that we have found in this Psalm and in God’s servant 44 00:03:40,639 –> 00:03:49,660 Asaph, a faithful friend who can help us persevere when we hit some of the most difficult times 45 00:03:49,660 –> 00:03:51,220 in our lives. 46 00:03:51,220 –> 00:03:58,639 Now, we always want to help children to become involved in learning from the Bible in our 47 00:03:58,639 –> 00:04:03,520 services, and so I want to introduce a little friend of mine, who I think will help all 48 00:04:03,520 –> 00:04:08,679 of us, not just the children, and we’re going to call him Asaph. 49 00:04:08,679 –> 00:04:13,960 Every week we’re going to see a different picture of Asaph that will help us learn the 50 00:04:13,960 –> 00:04:17,339 message of Psalm 73 and remember it. 51 00:04:17,339 –> 00:04:26,760 Now, today’s message is really about how Asaph had to make a decision and he decided 52 00:04:26,760 –> 00:04:33,000 not to follow some of the bad thoughts that were running through his mind. 53 00:04:33,000 –> 00:04:39,320 That’s why Asaph has a stop sign in his hand, and I show that at this point really because 54 00:04:39,320 –> 00:04:45,160 that captures the theme of this morning’s message, and for the children here, and frankly 55 00:04:45,160 –> 00:04:50,619 for the rest if you really want to do it also, you can draw a picture of Asaph with a stop 56 00:04:50,619 –> 00:04:55,579 sign, and you will have got the heart of the message of the first part of Psalm 73. 57 00:04:55,579 –> 00:04:59,839 For the children, if you want to give me your picture after the service or give it to one 58 00:04:59,899 –> 00:05:04,220 of the ushers, the ushers can get it to the church office, we’ll show some of these pictures 59 00:05:04,220 –> 00:05:09,500 of Asaph with the stop sign, as the first part of our journey at the beginning of the 60 00:05:09,500 –> 00:05:12,019 service next week. 61 00:05:12,019 –> 00:05:16,679 So to the text then, and we’ll take it verse by verse as we read it together. 62 00:05:16,679 –> 00:05:20,940 Psalm 73 in verse one. 63 00:05:20,940 –> 00:05:25,779 I want you to notice that the Psalm begins with a statement of faith. 64 00:05:25,779 –> 00:05:29,440 Surely God is good to Israel. 65 00:05:29,899 –> 00:05:33,700 To those who are pure in heart. 66 00:05:34,720 –> 00:05:40,339 Now, this in Old Testament terms was a kind of creedal statement, it was the sort of thing 67 00:05:40,339 –> 00:05:44,619 you would recite in the congregation every week at worship. 68 00:05:44,619 –> 00:05:50,140 For New Testament believers it would be rather like saying, Jesus is Lord when we meet for 69 00:05:50,140 –> 00:05:51,140 worship. 70 00:05:51,140 –> 00:05:56,200 You know God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 71 00:05:56,200 –> 00:06:00,100 Now Asaph is saying right at the beginning of this Psalm, look this what is I always 72 00:06:00,100 –> 00:06:01,100 believed. 73 00:06:01,100 –> 00:06:02,880 I’ve been brought up with this. 74 00:06:02,880 –> 00:06:05,239 I’ve always believed it. 75 00:06:05,239 –> 00:06:08,320 I have built my life upon it. 76 00:06:08,320 –> 00:06:15,880 This is the faith of God’s people he says, but, verse 2, I have to tell you, that as 77 00:06:15,880 –> 00:06:22,299 for me my feet had almost slipped. 78 00:06:22,299 –> 00:06:26,000 So if Asaph had been a New Testament believer, his story would have been something like this. 79 00:06:26,040 –> 00:06:32,359 Jesus is Lord! 80 00:06:32,359 –> 00:06:37,880 But I gotta tell you I almost gave up believing it. 81 00:06:37,880 –> 00:06:40,779 My feet had almost slipped. 82 00:06:40,779 –> 00:06:43,839 I nearly lost my faith. 83 00:06:43,839 –> 00:06:47,079 I nearly gave up my ministry. 84 00:06:47,079 –> 00:06:49,359 I almost lost my foothold. 85 00:06:49,359 –> 00:06:50,619 I was nearly gone. 86 00:06:50,619 –> 00:06:53,859 I need you to know that. 87 00:06:54,079 –> 00:06:57,579 But I want to tell you how God turned me around. 88 00:06:57,579 –> 00:07:00,100 That’s what the Psalm is. 89 00:07:00,100 –> 00:07:04,600 You know its relevance every Sunday? 90 00:07:04,600 –> 00:07:09,299 When we meet for worship and we confess our faith and we sing the hymns and we read the 91 00:07:09,299 –> 00:07:16,000 scriptures, there are some folks in this congregation, and that’s right where you are. 92 00:07:16,000 –> 00:07:18,859 You don’t find it easy to sing. 93 00:07:18,859 –> 00:07:22,839 You struggle as we focus on the Word all the time pounding in your mind. 94 00:07:22,880 –> 00:07:27,720 You hear something said and it’s, Yes, but, Yes, but, Yes, but. 95 00:07:27,720 –> 00:07:28,440 What about? 96 00:07:31,859 –> 00:07:36,959 Your faith that once was strong is now hanging by a slender thread. 97 00:07:40,679 –> 00:07:45,700 What was once strong to you now seems distant. 98 00:07:45,700 –> 00:07:51,359 What seems wonderfully real to other people seems remote from you. 99 00:07:53,640 –> 00:07:56,880 And somewhere in the back of your mind, there is this voice that says, 100 00:07:56,880 –> 00:08:00,399 You know, I could quite easily walk away from this altogether. 101 00:08:01,760 –> 00:08:04,959 My feet had almost slipped. 102 00:08:08,179 –> 00:08:12,160 Now, in the first half of the psalm which we’re going to cover this morning, 103 00:08:12,160 –> 00:08:17,519 Asaph tells us why it was that he became so troubled. 104 00:08:19,239 –> 00:08:21,679 He tells us what brought him to the point 105 00:08:21,720 –> 00:08:23,739 Where he almost gave up. 106 00:08:25,500 –> 00:08:27,940 Really comes in three parts. 107 00:08:27,940 –> 00:08:35,479 The first is that he could make no sense of what God was doing in the world. 108 00:08:35,479 –> 00:08:39,400 And here, I’d like simply to read for you verses 3 to 12 109 00:08:39,400 –> 00:08:43,440 As we get the flavor of what he was experiencing. 110 00:08:43,580 –> 00:08:47,200 So follow with me as we read together here from verse 3. 111 00:08:47,400 –> 00:08:54,599 For I envied the arrogant, he says, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 112 00:08:54,599 –> 00:09:01,400 They have no struggles, their bodies are healthy and strong. 113 00:09:01,400 –> 00:09:04,400 They’re free from the burdens common to men. 114 00:09:04,400 –> 00:09:07,799 They are not plagued by human ills. 115 00:09:07,799 –> 00:09:11,119 Therefore pride is their necklace. 116 00:09:11,119 –> 00:09:15,020 They clothe themselves with violence 117 00:09:15,260 –> 00:09:18,099 And from their callous hearts comes iniquity. 118 00:09:18,099 –> 00:09:21,900 The evil conceits of their minds know no limits. 119 00:09:21,900 –> 00:09:26,739 They scoff and speak with malice. 120 00:09:26,739 –> 00:09:29,099 In their arrogance they threaten oppression. 121 00:09:29,099 –> 00:09:35,739 Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth. 122 00:09:35,739 –> 00:09:41,760 Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance, they say. 123 00:09:41,780 –> 00:09:45,619 How can God know, does the Most High have knowledge? 124 00:09:45,619 –> 00:09:52,239 This is what the wicked are like, they’re carefree and they increase in wealth.” 125 00:09:52,239 –> 00:09:57,479 Now there’s real distress in these words. 126 00:09:57,479 –> 00:10:03,599 I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 127 00:10:03,599 –> 00:10:08,820 I see those who have no integrity in the world of business and they’re doing very well. 128 00:10:08,820 –> 00:10:11,340 I can make no sense of that. 129 00:10:11,380 –> 00:10:15,820 Why does God allow it? 130 00:10:15,820 –> 00:10:22,760 The people who are most antagonistic towards God in our country, they act as if no one 131 00:10:22,760 –> 00:10:26,039 can touch them and God does nothing about it. 132 00:10:26,039 –> 00:10:31,440 Here I am trying to serve the Lord in ministry, to promote what is pure and what is right. 133 00:10:31,440 –> 00:10:37,559 All I see is that the agenda of those who hate God and those who despise his word is 134 00:10:37,559 –> 00:10:39,200 moving forward in the land. 135 00:10:39,200 –> 00:10:40,340 Why does God allow it? 136 00:10:40,340 –> 00:10:43,500 It makes no sense to me. 137 00:10:43,500 –> 00:10:45,979 Now, you can understand this problem. 138 00:10:45,979 –> 00:10:49,020 Which of us hasn’t been there? 139 00:10:49,020 –> 00:10:53,219 Can you make any sense of how God rules the world? 140 00:10:53,219 –> 00:10:56,700 Can you? 141 00:10:56,700 –> 00:10:59,679 Why do the wicked prosper? 142 00:10:59,679 –> 00:11:04,359 Makes no sense. 143 00:11:04,859 –> 00:11:11,419 Aesop couldn’t make any sense of what God was doing in the world, but actually the real 144 00:11:11,419 –> 00:11:15,080 problem was deeper. 145 00:11:15,080 –> 00:11:20,440 It was that he could make no sense of what God was doing in his own life. 146 00:11:20,440 –> 00:11:24,380 Look at verse 14, we’ll come to 13 in a moment. 147 00:11:24,380 –> 00:11:32,979 All day long I have been plagued, I have been punished every morning. 148 00:11:32,979 –> 00:11:35,260 You see, it’s personal now. 149 00:11:35,260 –> 00:11:41,500 He’s poured out all his frustration about how God rules the world but actually the real 150 00:11:41,500 –> 00:11:45,760 problem is that things are going wrong in his own life, and it just makes no sense to 151 00:11:45,760 –> 00:11:47,520 him. 152 00:11:47,520 –> 00:11:53,099 Now, remember that this is the confession of a Godly man. 153 00:11:53,099 –> 00:12:01,739 Asaph is in full-time ministry, he is a spiritual leader. 154 00:12:01,739 –> 00:12:06,099 Other people are looking to him for leadership. 155 00:12:06,099 –> 00:12:08,340 This is a man who is reading his Bible. 156 00:12:08,340 –> 00:12:10,440 This is a man who is saying his prayers. 157 00:12:10,440 –> 00:12:12,340 This is a man who tithes his money. 158 00:12:12,340 –> 00:12:17,400 This is a man who has poured great energy into pursuing a holy life, who has sought 159 00:12:17,400 –> 00:12:18,960 to live with integrity. 160 00:12:18,960 –> 00:12:24,440 He’s made sacrifices for the advance of God’s kingdom but now it seems that everything’s 161 00:12:24,440 –> 00:12:28,880 going wrong in his life. 162 00:12:28,880 –> 00:12:32,400 And just why would God allow that to happen? 163 00:12:32,400 –> 00:12:39,599 It just makes no sense. 164 00:12:39,599 –> 00:12:48,039 See, sometimes underneath the grand questions that we ask about what’s wrong with the world, 165 00:12:48,039 –> 00:12:55,679 there are much deeper questions that are personal about what’s going wrong in my life. 166 00:12:55,719 –> 00:12:59,039 You ask, why do the wicked prosper? 167 00:12:59,039 –> 00:13:04,919 But the real question is, why hasn’t God prospered me? 168 00:13:04,919 –> 00:13:07,200 You ask, why does God allow suffering? 169 00:13:07,200 –> 00:13:13,080 But the real question is, why is there such pain in my life? 170 00:13:13,080 –> 00:13:16,500 You ask, is there really a God who controls the universe? 171 00:13:16,500 –> 00:13:21,080 But the real question is, why is it that it seems my life is falling apart? 172 00:13:21,080 –> 00:13:28,859 This man could make no sense of what God is doing in the world, he could make no sense 173 00:13:28,859 –> 00:13:33,039 of what God is doing in his life. 174 00:13:33,039 –> 00:13:39,960 Therefore, thirdly, he could no longer see the point of pursuing a Godly life. 175 00:13:39,960 –> 00:13:43,179 That’s where he came to, and that’s verse 13. 176 00:13:43,859 –> 00:13:48,739 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure. 177 00:13:48,739 –> 00:13:52,859 In vain I have washed my hands in innocence. 178 00:13:52,859 –> 00:13:54,140 Now you see what he’s saying? 179 00:13:54,140 –> 00:13:58,500 If you go back to verse one, I’ve always believed, I’ve been brought up to believe 180 00:13:58,500 –> 00:14:04,059 that God is good to Israel to those who are pure in heart, but what I’m seeing as I 181 00:14:04,059 –> 00:14:07,940 look out at the world is the prosperity of the wicked. 182 00:14:07,940 –> 00:14:12,260 Then I look at the problems of my own life and I’ve tried to be pure in heart and the 183 00:14:12,260 –> 00:14:17,380 whole thing just doesn’t make sense to me anymore, now you see these problems are very 184 00:14:17,380 –> 00:14:21,239 real. 185 00:14:21,239 –> 00:14:29,260 Some of you have colleagues in business, competitors in business who have very little integrity 186 00:14:29,260 –> 00:14:33,700 and they’re doing very well. 187 00:14:33,700 –> 00:14:38,179 You have tried to do business in a way that honors the Lord and you are facing all kinds 188 00:14:38,260 –> 00:14:43,440 crap and that leaves you saying, what’s the point? 189 00:14:43,440 –> 00:14:50,260 In vain have I tried to keep my heart pure, where did it get me? 190 00:14:50,260 –> 00:14:58,979 Your colleague at work was fooling around with someone in the office and he got promoted. 191 00:14:58,979 –> 00:15:01,760 You were loyal to your wife and you lost your job. 192 00:15:02,460 –> 00:15:07,500 It leaves you saying, Lord you blessed the wrong guy here. 193 00:15:07,500 –> 00:15:11,460 Makes no sense. 194 00:15:11,539 –> 00:15:17,159 Now this was Asaph’s problem and he’d lived with it too long and he says 195 00:15:17,159 –> 00:15:29,640 honestly my feet had almost slipped. I was nearly gone. I almost gave up. 196 00:15:30,359 –> 00:15:37,140 Now if a godly man like Asaph could be tempted like that. 197 00:15:37,140 –> 00:15:43,760 Would you be surprised that that may happen to you. 198 00:15:43,760 –> 00:15:53,080 The Apostle Peter tells us that we have an enemy, Satan, and that he’s like a 199 00:15:53,099 –> 00:15:58,440 roaring lion and that he’s always prowling around looking to see who he 200 00:15:59,239 –> 00:16:03,440 It was like that before the time of Jesus and it’s been like that since the time of Jesus. 201 00:16:03,440 –> 00:16:09,080 And quite honestly, the more you pursue integrity and the more useful you are to 202 00:16:09,080 –> 00:16:14,460 Jesus Christ the more he will want to devour you. That is what was happening here 203 00:16:14,460 –> 00:16:21,700 Satan wanted to spoil Asaph’s testimony. Satan wanted to end this good man’s ministry. 204 00:16:21,960 –> 00:16:34,979 Satan wanted to devour Asaph in a storm of confusion and of despair. You need to 205 00:16:34,979 –> 00:16:42,320 know that there will be times of special testing in your life and that your 206 00:16:42,320 –> 00:16:49,299 future usefulness to Christ will depend in large measure on how you handle these 207 00:16:49,299 –> 00:16:55,159 times when they come. It was the Apostle Paul who said that we are to put on the 208 00:16:55,159 –> 00:17:01,059 full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes we may be able to stand. 209 00:17:01,059 –> 00:17:04,939 See not all days are the same in the Christian life, there are some days where 210 00:17:04,939 –> 00:17:09,260 Satan makes a special attack. Paul says it’s the day of evil and when it comes 211 00:17:09,260 –> 00:17:13,780 you need the armor of God so that you will be able to stand. Now, you know, 212 00:17:13,939 –> 00:17:25,500 that’s what Asaph did. God brought him through and his story really is a model 213 00:17:25,500 –> 00:17:32,920 for us as to how we must act when we come to these points where we feel like 214 00:17:32,920 –> 00:17:41,260 giving up. Now, the rest of the psalm tells us Asaph’s story and we’re going to 215 00:17:41,260 –> 00:17:46,619 walk with Asaph on his steps to recovery from this crisis, and there are really 216 00:17:46,619 –> 00:17:50,420 five steps and we’re going to follow them over these next weeks. We’re really 217 00:17:50,420 –> 00:17:55,020 just going to take the first one only today and that’s the step that we find 218 00:17:55,020 –> 00:17:59,680 in verse 15. Look at what he says there and this will be the focus for the 219 00:17:59,680 –> 00:18:00,959 remainder of our time. 220 00:18:01,839 –> 00:18:12,739 If I had said I will speak thus, I would have betrayed your children. 221 00:18:14,459 –> 00:18:20,959 Now he’s poured out in the psalm you see, reflecting back on this experience, what 222 00:18:20,959 –> 00:18:26,680 he was thinking at this dark time in his life. And what he’s saying here is very 223 00:18:26,680 –> 00:18:32,479 simply, look if I had gone public with what I was really thinking at that time, 224 00:18:32,479 –> 00:18:40,939 I would have let everybody down. If I’d spoken thus, I would have betrayed your 225 00:18:40,939 –> 00:18:49,599 children. If I had followed the thoughts, the inclinations of my heart at that 226 00:18:49,599 –> 00:18:54,219 time, if I had gone where these thoughts were 227 00:18:54,219 –> 00:19:03,160 taking me I would have betrayed your children. If I had gone where my confused 228 00:19:03,160 –> 00:19:06,979 mind was going I would have become the Judas of the Old Testament. That’s what 229 00:19:06,979 –> 00:19:18,540 he’s saying. But Asaph does not want to go there, so he takes himself in hand and 230 00:19:19,400 –> 00:19:20,380 he puts on the brakes. 231 00:19:24,900 –> 00:19:30,780 Last week our family had the joy of a few days away in Doerr County where we’ve 232 00:19:30,780 –> 00:19:37,300 enjoyed a break after Christmas on a number of years. And the place where we 233 00:19:37,300 –> 00:19:42,060 were staying, in Sister Bay, some of you know that area well, was if you get the 234 00:19:42,099 –> 00:19:49,420 picture off a road that was off a road, you get the idea. We arrived in the 235 00:19:49,420 –> 00:19:56,359 evening, pitch dark, and you know how it is. It’s somewhere up here on the right 236 00:19:56,359 –> 00:20:02,900 and my wife said, I think it’s this turning here. Oh no, I said, I think it’s 237 00:20:02,900 –> 00:20:09,140 further on. Well, a mile down the road it became very clear that there were no 238 00:20:09,280 –> 00:20:13,180 more turnings on the right further on and that we were right out in the 239 00:20:13,180 –> 00:20:19,819 sticks. Graciously she said, I’m sure it was back there. 240 00:20:19,819 –> 00:20:29,040 Yes I know I said. I’m just looking for a place to turn. The problem of course in 241 00:20:29,040 –> 00:20:32,040 the dead of night out in the sticks on a very narrow country road is there just 242 00:20:32,040 –> 00:20:36,280 wasn’t a place to do that. We were on one long straight narrow road, no crossroads 243 00:20:36,280 –> 00:20:45,420 no houses with nice drives, and the only thing to do was to pull up and to make a 244 00:20:45,420 –> 00:20:54,619 three-point or in this case a five-point turn. There are some places in life where 245 00:20:54,619 –> 00:21:04,560 turning round isn’t easy and you may have been looking for some nice easy 246 00:21:04,579 –> 00:21:12,619 opening when you can swing your life lazily around with style you’re not 247 00:21:12,619 –> 00:21:20,079 finding one that’s how it was for Asa. My feet had almost slipped he said it 248 00:21:20,079 –> 00:21:27,319 almost lost the road all together and what he tells us in Psalm 73 is how he 249 00:21:27,359 –> 00:21:35,760 had to make a five-point turn wasn’t easy but if you are going to make a turn 250 00:21:35,760 –> 00:21:41,699 like that you can’t do it at 50 miles an hour right what’s the first thing you 251 00:21:41,699 –> 00:21:51,439 have to do you have to stop it’s not even enough to slow down you got to stop 252 00:21:51,459 –> 00:21:59,719 you got to stop stop and make a decision 253 00:22:00,219 –> 00:22:06,140 that’s what A$AP does right here in verse 15. We try and unpack that a 254 00:22:06,140 –> 00:22:14,239 little bit for us. See, A$AP’s turn did not begin with an 255 00:22:14,239 –> 00:22:21,219 answer but with a decision. That’s very very important. Remember his problem was 256 00:22:21,219 –> 00:22:24,420 I can’t make sense of what God’s doing in the world I can’t make sense of what 257 00:22:24,420 –> 00:22:27,739 God’s doing in my life therefore I’ve concluded in my mind there’s no point in 258 00:22:27,739 –> 00:22:32,839 continuing to pursue a godly life. Now if that’s the problem you would think that 259 00:22:32,839 –> 00:22:37,800 the turning point would begin when he gets an answer but that is not A$AP’s 260 00:22:37,800 –> 00:22:43,859 story. A$AP wants us to know that the first step to turning your life around 261 00:22:44,160 –> 00:22:50,959 is not finding an answer but it is making a decision. His mind was driving 262 00:22:50,959 –> 00:23:01,280 down the road to despair but he makes a decision. I am NOT going any further down 263 00:23:01,280 –> 00:23:11,680 this dark road. That’s verse 15. I will not go where these thoughts of the first 264 00:23:11,680 –> 00:23:20,260 14 verses are leading me. That’s where the turn begins. See, something within us 265 00:23:20,260 –> 00:23:28,880 cries out to God, give me an answer! And God says to us, give me a commitment. 266 00:23:28,880 –> 00:23:37,680 We say to God, I need to understand! And God says to us, you need to follow. 267 00:23:38,079 –> 00:23:42,040 Remember the gospel tells us about how Jesus came to the garden of Gethsemane 268 00:23:42,040 –> 00:23:46,319 and he was struggling. Struggling with what God the father was doing in the world 269 00:23:46,319 –> 00:23:49,800 and struggling with what God the father was doing in the life of Jesus himself 270 00:23:49,800 –> 00:23:59,819 as he approached the cross. He came into the garden with a question. He wanted to 271 00:23:59,819 –> 00:24:06,140 know if the cup of suffering on the cross could be taken from him. If it is 272 00:24:06,180 –> 00:24:14,400 possible let it be taken from me he says. Jesus goes into the garden with a 273 00:24:14,400 –> 00:24:21,239 question can this cup be taken away. He comes out of the garden with a decision 274 00:24:21,239 –> 00:24:29,160 may your will be done. It’s a turning point. 275 00:24:29,839 –> 00:24:35,040 and we talk real straight this morning 276 00:24:36,359 –> 00:24:45,099 maybe you’re facing a crisis in your life right now. Things have been going 277 00:24:45,099 –> 00:24:57,319 wrong. Your mind is confused. You don’t have the answers. You need to 278 00:24:57,319 –> 00:25:06,900 make a decision. If you follow the dark impulses of your mind right now you will 279 00:25:06,900 –> 00:25:13,579 spoil your testimony. If you follow the thoughts that are running in your mind 280 00:25:13,579 –> 00:25:20,579 in these dark days you may blow your marriage. If you follow the inclinations 281 00:25:20,640 –> 00:25:27,640 of your heart you may no longer be useful in ministry. Don’t go there, make a decision, 282 00:25:35,020 –> 00:25:42,020 stop that way of thinking, stop that way of acting. Climbing out of a black hole does 283 00:25:42,599 –> 00:25:49,599 not begin with an answer, but with making a decision, it’s very important. 284 00:25:51,579 –> 00:25:58,579 Then here is the last thing this morning, choose loyalty to God and his people. That is the 285 00:25:58,599 –> 00:26:05,060 decision you have to make. That’s what Esau did. Look at what he says in verse 15. There 286 00:26:05,060 –> 00:26:12,060 are 2 keywords really, your children. He says to God your children, God’s children. If I 287 00:26:13,839 –> 00:26:19,040 had said I will speak thus, if I had gone where my mind was going I would have betrayed 288 00:26:19,099 –> 00:26:25,400 your children. Now he’s talking of course about God’s people, he’s talking about the community 289 00:26:25,400 –> 00:26:29,380 of believers, he’s talking about the people of faith and he says if I had followed the 290 00:26:29,380 –> 00:26:34,900 thoughts and the inclinations of my heart I would have let everybody down. I would have 291 00:26:34,900 –> 00:26:41,900 betrayed my family, I would have spoiled my testimony, I would have lost my ministry, 292 00:26:42,479 –> 00:26:49,479 I would have become a Judas, I would have betrayed your children. Now this teaches us 293 00:26:50,859 –> 00:26:57,579 a second thing that I think is very, very important at the critical points in our lives. 294 00:26:57,579 –> 00:27:04,579 You see, help comes when a man or a woman gets their eyes off himself or herself and 295 00:27:05,099 –> 00:27:12,099 begins to focus on loyalties and responsibilities to others. Get your eyes off yourself and 296 00:27:15,280 –> 00:27:22,280 your own pain! Focus on others who look to you and depend on you. After all, there are 297 00:27:23,280 –> 00:27:30,280 children who look to you as their model of faith. They see you as their example in life. 298 00:27:39,699 –> 00:27:46,000 They may be grown children, they may be married children, but it’s still true. There are 299 00:27:46,000 –> 00:27:50,439 neighbors, there are colleagues, there are customers, there are business partners who 300 00:27:50,439 –> 00:27:55,300 know that you are a Christian and their whole perception of Christianity may be shaped by 301 00:27:55,300 –> 00:28:03,920 what you do or do not do now. You can’t give up. You can’t give up. 302 00:28:06,979 –> 00:28:15,239 See, your crisis, whatever it is, is something, part of something far, far bigger than yourself. 303 00:28:15,239 –> 00:28:23,640 You belong to the body of Christ. You belong to the body in heaven as well as on earth. 304 00:28:23,640 –> 00:28:29,560 You are surrounded, the Bible says, by a great cloud of witnesses, men, women, children, 305 00:28:29,560 –> 00:28:36,400 angels, and God has set a track for you to run on, and you are to run that race that 306 00:28:36,400 –> 00:28:45,680 has been marked out for you however difficult. Asaph knows that if he were to give up he 307 00:28:45,680 –> 00:28:51,479 would have betrayed God’s children, and that stops him in his tracks. Thank God for 308 00:28:51,479 –> 00:29:02,400 it. Thank God for the word almost. I almost gave up. But he didn’t, he didn’t. 309 00:29:02,479 –> 00:29:07,599 Now, there’s a lot more to climbing out of a black hole than this, and we will follow 310 00:29:07,599 –> 00:29:15,979 what more there is over these coming weeks. But this is where it begins, with a decision 311 00:29:15,979 –> 00:29:23,880 and with a commitment. You stop and you refuse to go where the dark thoughts would take you, 312 00:29:24,540 –> 00:29:33,439 and you make a commitment to God and to His people. Now, you know, there never was a more 313 00:29:33,439 –> 00:29:40,979 awesome example of this than the example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that we’re 314 00:29:40,979 –> 00:29:51,180 coming to in just a moment around the communion table. On the night that Jesus was betrayed—and 315 00:29:51,180 –> 00:29:58,579 can you begin to imagine the pressure of that night—on the night when He was betrayed, 316 00:29:58,579 –> 00:30:08,640 John tells us that Jesus prayed. He was about to endure the agony of the cross, but the 317 00:30:08,640 –> 00:30:14,400 focus of His prayer—recorded in John chapter 17—was entirely on His disciples. That is 318 00:30:14,780 –> 00:30:22,800 a staggering thought. You see, He’s doing in fullness what Asaph had begun to pursue, 319 00:30:22,800 –> 00:30:28,199 that when you face great pain you’ve got to get your eyes on to others, He’s facing the 320 00:30:28,199 –> 00:30:35,439 cross, He’s praying for His disciples. And there is an awesome statement in the prayer 321 00:30:35,439 –> 00:30:42,599 of Jesus in John chapter 17 and verse 19 that you could meditate on for a hundred years 322 00:30:42,599 –> 00:30:47,900 and not get to the depth. This is what Jesus says in His prayers to the Father. He says, 323 00:30:47,900 –> 00:30:59,260 For them… For them, I sanctify myself. Now, to sanctify yourself means to give yourself 324 00:30:59,260 –> 00:31:04,619 to a special purpose and in this case, the special purpose was, of course, to go to the 325 00:31:04,619 –> 00:31:14,280 cross. This is what Jesus is grappling with and He says to the Father, I’ll do it, for 326 00:31:14,280 –> 00:31:24,599 them. I’ll do it for them. Father, I’ll do it for these who are your disciples now and 327 00:31:24,599 –> 00:31:29,339 I’ll do it, Father, for those who will become your disciples in all the ages that are to 328 00:31:29,339 –> 00:31:35,800 come. Hebrews tells us that this is how Jesus endured the cross. He endured the cross for 329 00:31:35,800 –> 00:31:41,660 the joy that was set before Him. What is that joy? It is the joy of seeing God’s work fulfilled 330 00:31:41,660 –> 00:31:48,959 in you. Now, if you are a Christian you bear his name 331 00:31:48,959 –> 00:31:57,859 and He says to you today you take up your cross and follow me. 332 00:31:57,859 –> 00:32:02,500 Deasaf of course lived a long time before Jesus but frankly that is exactly 333 00:32:02,500 –> 00:32:10,319 what he did. And in his older years where he shares this 334 00:32:10,319 –> 00:32:16,719 testimony, a story now complete, he writes under the Inspiration of the 335 00:32:16,739 –> 00:32:21,219 Spirit and he recollects the depth of the struggle that he went through. 336 00:32:21,219 –> 00:32:28,719 He says I want you to know this, there was a time in my life when I almost gave 337 00:32:28,719 –> 00:32:36,420 up. I couldn’t make any sense of what God was doing in the world. I couldn’t make 338 00:32:36,420 –> 00:32:44,420 any sense of what God was doing in my life. My feet had almost slipped. And if I 339 00:32:44,439 –> 00:32:47,500 had followed the thoughts and inclinations of my heart, I would have 340 00:32:47,500 –> 00:32:59,780 let everybody down. But I’m so glad I didn’t. And I’m here to tell you today 341 00:32:59,780 –> 00:33:09,420 that God brought me through, that God turned me around. And you need to know it 342 00:33:09,420 –> 00:33:16,439 started when I made a decision that I would not betray the Lord and I would 343 00:33:16,439 –> 00:33:28,520 not betray His people. Let’s pray together, shall we? Some of us may be 344 00:33:28,520 –> 00:33:34,699 right now where Asaph was then. 345 00:33:35,099 –> 00:33:47,500 And you need to make an Asaph decision to say to God 346 00:33:47,939 –> 00:33:53,459 right now I make a decision, a commitment not to go where the darker thoughts of 347 00:33:53,540 –> 00:33:55,060 my mind would lead me. 348 00:34:02,040 –> 00:34:05,819 Right now I make a commitment that I will not betray you, Oh Lord. 349 00:34:08,679 –> 00:34:10,620 And I will not betray your children. 350 00:34:13,939 –> 00:34:17,179 I don’t want to be a Judas 351 00:34:18,159 –> 00:34:18,820 or their mothers. 352 00:34:22,399 –> 00:34:25,719 So now give me your strength, 353 00:34:27,000 –> 00:34:29,959 give me the Spirit of Jesus 354 00:34:29,959 –> 00:34:31,239 in full measure, 355 00:34:31,239 –> 00:34:35,520 the Spirit of the one who was able to say for them, 356 00:34:37,080 –> 00:34:37,879 for them. 357 00:34:39,479 –> 00:34:41,479 I sanctify myself. 358 00:34:43,419 –> 00:34:44,659 Lord, Jesus, 359 00:34:45,659 –> 00:34:49,639 as you sanctified yourself for me 360 00:34:52,219 –> 00:34:55,679 so in your strength I sanctify myself 361 00:34:57,179 –> 00:34:57,840 for you. 362 00:34:59,679 –> 00:35:00,679 Hear my prayer. 363 00:35:01,820 –> 00:35:02,959 Give me strength. 364 00:35:04,459 –> 00:35:05,580 Turn me around. 365 00:35:06,820 –> 00:35:08,340 Help me to persevere 366 00:35:09,820 –> 00:35:11,139 for Jesus’ sake. 367 00:35:13,020 –> 00:35:13,719 Amen.