Sunday Morning Service 8:30AM-But I Still Believe - Pastor Ryan

Good morning, church family. It's so good to see you guys. I'm glad you're here. I want to invite you to stand with us. We'll pray and we'll get started.

Lord, we just thank you for another day. Lord, we thank you for another opportunity, Lord, to be to be in your house this morning, Lord, to to worship you, Lord, and to spend some time in your word. And Lord, as we as we lift praise to you this morning, I just pray that you would bless this time. Lord, help us to be able to focus on you and to sit everything that's going on in our lives aside. And so so that we could we could focus on you, Lord, that we could worship you,

Lord, that we could focus on your word this morning, God, we ask again your blessing on this time in Jesus name. Amen. Have a seat if you like as we start to sing this next song, Lord. What I know, I know that there's people here this morning, Lord, that are just that are in a lot of pain and that are hurting. And I just pray that this morning, God, that we would place our whole

trust in you, God. Full trust in you, Lord, that you are very much on your throne. We're having a good day or a bad day, Lord, God. I just pray that we would trust in you, Lord, God, each and every day of our life. Prayer this morning, God, teach us to to abide in you, to remain in you, Lord, God, to find our source of strength and a source of life. Lord, God, no matter what we're going through, help us

just to to find our hope and our rest source of life in you, Jesus. This morning, as Pastor Ryan comes, I pray that you would trust in you, Lord, that you would trust in you, Lord, God, each and every day of our life. And I ask you, Lord, that you would just speak through him mightily, Lord, give him a mighty word to speak and give us soft and receptive hearts to receive it, God. We love you and we praise you and we thank you in Jesus' name. Let's take some time and greet one another.

Good morning. If you could begin to locate your seat. Grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements. I'm used to it. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. A handful of things that we're going to be talking about this morning. We're going to talk about the Holy Spirit. We're going to talk about the Holy Spirit. We're going to talk about the

Holy Spirit. We're going to talk about the Holy Spirit. We're going to talk about the Holy Spirit. Take note of in your bulletin. Over on the left-hand side are studies to get plugged into throughout the week. So please take note of those and find yourself a spot to get plugged into. Over in the middle section, just a reminder that this week starts up the new Grief Share group. So if you

are interested in getting plugged into that, all of the information is right there. The other thing in the middle section of your bulletin that you need to pay attention to is that we, as I mentioned last week, are in need of a new group of people. We're going to talk about the Holy Spirit. We're needing some new Children's Church teachers. If you are interested in getting involved in that,

if you're interested in helping out with Children's Church, there's a couple of steps you need to go through. First of all, you need to come talk with me because I need to know you've been here for about six months or so and that you're really plugged in. And then you'll also need to know that you've got to go through a background check. We have everybody that teaches Children's Church go through a background check because we care more about the safety of our kids than we do about your feelings. So

you do have to go through that. But what a great place to get plugged into to be able to not only understand the word better for yourself, but to be able to reach the next generation. So the only thing that is not in your bulletin that I needed to mention to you is that if you are newer and you are not on our email communication system, we use this thing called Flocknote. And all of the information is down in the little dark banner down there at the bottom where it says, notices and prayer needs stay up to date. If you go to that website or you text that number down there,

you can get plugged into our email communication system. It's how we send out prayer requests, but also any other important information that you need to know, cancellations, things like that. So make sure that you are plugged into Flocknote. So those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we are

going to be in Psalm 27. Psalm 27. Looking at the New American Standard, if you need a copy, there should be one in a row around you. Just so that for this part, we all sound the same. And as you are turning to Psalm 27, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's word. I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even verses. Psalm 27, a psalm of David.

The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The defense of my life. Whom shall I dread? When evildoers come upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear. The war arise against me. In spite of this, I shall be confident. One thing I've asked of the Lord, that I shall seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, the glory of the Lord, the glory of the Lord. For in the day of trouble, he will conceal me in his tabernacle. In the secret place of his tent, he will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock. And now my head will be lifted up of my enemies around me, and I will offer to his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me. When you said, seek my face. And my heart said to you, Your face, O Lord, I shall seek. Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me up.

Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me in a level path because of my foes. Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries. For the false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage.

Yes, wait for the Lord. And, Father, that's what we're here doing this morning, Lord, is we're waiting on you. Because, truly, we need the courage and hope that comes only from you. And so, Father, I just ask that you would be with our time in your word now, that you would... Lord, that you would minister to our hearts, that you would draw us near to you. Lord, that you would comfort us where we need comforted.

And, Lord, that you would guide us and instruct us where we need to know which direction we're supposed to go. And, Lord, bless our time together, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And you can just keep your Bible open right there to Psalm 27. Well, it's been a week. If you are newer or you are not on our Flocknotes system, I'm just going to let you know kind of what's going on this week.

Because I'm bringing a little bit of a special message, partly because I know that there's a lot of healing in our body that needs to take place this week. So, Tuesday morning, very early in the morning, I woke up to a text message from Sandra Davis that I needed to call her. And what immediately went through my head is somebody must be in the hospital. And so, I'm trying to get woken up and trying to think about, which hospital I probably need to go to and what kind of meetings I'm going to have to cancel and things like that.

And so, I got myself together and I called her. And she proceeded to inform me about the events that had taken place with Glenn and that Glenn had gone home to be with the Lord. Again, if you're new and you don't know who that is, Glenn is, he was a drummer on our worship team and he was a deacon in our church. And he led our children's ministry. And I don't know how unhinged.

I'm going to be this morning because it's been a rough week. But he was also my really good friend. And so, it's been a tough week. Full disclosure on my part, just was beginning the process of healing from the loss of my dad. And so, who also was a worship leader in this church, as you know. And so, it's just, if I never relive this summer again, I'm going to be really happy.

Right? I mean, this has been a rough one. This has been a rough summer. And so, anyway, all that to say, this has been a rough week. And so, as I was going through these things, I retreated to the Psalms, which is often where I go.

Because that's where my dad taught me to go. Retreat to the Psalms. And so, that's what I did. So, I read Psalm 27. Sorry, guys. I'm going to do the best I can. I've done really good most of the week. But I start talking about it and that's when things go downhill for me. So, hang with me. I read Psalm 27. And really, what Psalm 27 is, is Psalm 27 is a psalm of confidence and it's a psalm of courage.

And like many of David's psalms, he wrote this in a very difficult time in his life. We're not totally sure when and every commentator says there's no really good time stamp to put on this. Although, most believe it was probably when he was running from Saul after he had been anointed king. And Saul, the current king, was seeking his life. He probably wrote this during that time.

But whatever time. We know that it was written in a difficult time in his life. But this psalm reminds us of something. It reminds us that though things are difficult, we can still believe God because God has not changed. And so, I entitled the message this morning, but I still believe. As a matter of fact, that's almost a quote from Sandra when I was out talking to her.

And she said, As I've been praying about it, I just feel the Lord's continuing to tell me. But you just need to keep believing. And so, that's what she's doing. And so, that's what I'm doing. And that's what I'm going to encourage you to do this morning. We just read through it together, so I don't need to read through it again. But as we look at Psalm 27, there are four things that David points out to us.

That the psalmist David points out to us that we need if we're going to keep believing. If we're going to go through hard times. He's going to tell us about confidence. He's going to tell us about presence. He's going to tell us about pleading. And he's going to tell us about hope. We'll start off with confidence. It says in verse 1, The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life. Whom shall I dread? When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear. Though war rages. The Lord is my shield against me. In spite of all of this, I shall be confident. He starts off with three very powerful words there.

I don't know if you noticed it in verse 1. He refers to the Lord as three different things. He refers to him as his light. He refers to him as his salvation. And he refers to him as his defense. I want to look at those three words because those are important. I feel like those three words lay the groundwork for the confidence that we find in the rest of Psalm 27.

He first of all says the Lord is his light. Of course, we know that God is. And he dwells in unapproachable light. We've already looked at that one time in some of our scriptures over the past few weeks. But metaphorically speaking, especially in Hebrew language, the word light is often synonymous with life. The word light is often synonymous with that life that is eternal in nature.

And so what David says here is the Lord is not only his light, but what he's telling us is the Lord is his life. Not only his source of life, but the preserver of his life. Which is why he says, The second thing he refers to the Lord as, is he refers to him as his salvation. The word salvation can be defined as deliverance or rescue. And we're going to find in just a moment that if anybody understood what it was like to be delivered and rescued from things, it was David.

If anybody knew what it was like to know the Lord as his salvation, it was David. It's interesting because if you were to follow the etymology of this word, you'd go all the way back to the book of Exodus. And you would find that when Moses writes his song about being delivered from the dead, or being delivered from the nation of Egypt, after being delivered from the Red Sea, he said, The Lord is my life, and he has become for me my salvation, the one who has delivered him from evil. And if anybody understood that, it was Moses, because he'd gone through it as well.

And we can know, because David is telling us this, because of the things that he's gone through, that God is the one who rescues him, and God is the one who delivers him. And while I'm not David or Moses, I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt, in the life that I have lived, I can tell you, that God has always been my salvation, because he has always rescued me, he has always delivered me. I had a conversation with somebody before church, and they said, This is the first time I've been through such a shocking loss. And it's really messed with me, and I've gone through all of the shock, and dealt with almost physical things because of the shock that I've gone through.

And all I could think was, I wish I could say it was the first time I've gone through this. I wish I could say it was the first time I've experienced this shock, but it's not. But I can tell you this, as somebody who has experienced this shock multiple times, of getting a phone call saying, that someone that you love and cared for had passed away, can I tell you that I can with David say, the Lord is my salvation? Because I have seen him deliver me, I have seen him rescue me, I have seen him be that for myself over and over again.

And I can tell you with great confidence that this is true. He refers to the Lord as his light or his life, his salvation, the one who rescues him and delivers him. But the last thing he refers to him as is his defense. The word defense there in some of your translations is refuge or stronghold. But the idea, is a place of safety and protection. A place of safety and protection.

And if this truly is when David is in the wilderness running from Saul, the thing he would have sought the most in a physical sense was protection. Was that defense, that place of refuge that he could find, where he could have just a little bit of safety, so that he could just get a little bit of sleep, so that he could rest up for the next day of battle and the next day of pursuit. And that's what God was for David. Even if he didn't always physically have it, have that spiritually, emotionally, he always had that place of defense.

He always had that stronghold. He always had that refuge. He always had that place of safety in the Lord, that no matter what was going on around him, he knew that he could find rest in the Lord. There's a beautiful picture of this in the New Testament. In the New Testament, Jesus and the disciples had gotten into a boat to go across to the other side of the Sea of Galilee,

and a great storm arose. And as the great storm arose, the disciples were absolutely terrified. And you know where Jesus was the entire time? Jesus was asleep in the whole of the boat. Why? Because the God who created the heavens and the earth, the one who spoke it all into existence, was in bodily form laying in the bottom of the boat, and he wasn't worried about it.

Because even in the midst of the storm, he had rest. And that's what you and I can find in God, is that in the midst of the storm, we can have rest. In the midst of the storm, we can find ourselves in a place where there is great deliverance, where there is great safety. I'll remind you of one more story from the New Testament, and it's a story about Paul. Paul and his friend Silas had gone to Philippi to preach the gospel.

And as they'd gone to Philippi to preach the gospel, the officials in the town didn't like that they were pulling people away from their idolatrous practices and into this church. And so they arrested them, and they beat them, and they put them into the stocks in the bottom of a prison, awaiting their trial and probably potential execution. And that night at midnight, as Paul and Silas were in danger of their life, facing the injuries that they had taken in from the beatings, and as they were in stocks in about the most uncomfortable place possible, probably couldn't find any physical sleep, but spiritually they found rest. And so what did they do?

They sang praises to the Lord, because God was their defense. And so David starts off this psalm saying, the Lord is my light. He is my salvation. And he is my defense. But then he reminds us that in the midst of that, there are real enemies. He actually asks two questions. He says, Whom shall I fear and whom shall I dread? He'll answer those questions in just a minute.

But he says, Whom shall I fear if I have the Lord? Who am I going to dread if God is my defense? Where is there actual fear in life? There's really nothing to fear when you know that God is with you, because if God is on your side, you're always a majority. But in spite of the fact that he didn't need to fear, there were real enemies that he faced. Look at how they're described.

He describes them as evildoers who want to devour his flesh. He describes them as adversaries and enemies. He describes it as an army that is encamped against him. And he describes it as a war that will arise against him. All of these very real enemies that he had faced and would continue to face were very real in his life. And we need to understand something.

Just because we have confidence in the Lord doesn't mean there's not real enemies. Sometimes I think in our desire to create confidence, we try to pretend that there's nothing wrong. And this is one of the things I love about the Psalms, is that David never pretends that nothing's wrong. He just said that just because there's things wrong doesn't mean God's not still right.

Just because there's issues doesn't mean that God's not still in control. Because in the midst of all of these enemies that he was facing, he could say this one thing, and I love this. He says, in spite of this, I shall be confident. In spite of this, I shall be confident. You see, I think what David is doing here is he is rehearsing what God has done for him in the past.

Because what we're gonna find in a minute is he's gonna pray about what's going on in the present. But I wanna tell you something that's true about God. God's past faithfulness creates present confidence. God's past faithfulness always creates present confidence. Because we can look back and we can see, the Lord was my light and my salvation and my deliverer, my defense in the midst of all of these things.

What's gonna tell me he's gonna stop now? This is what God has done for me in the past and I can believe that he's going to do it for me in the present. This is what God has done for other believers in the past. This is what I know he'll do for me in the present. These are the stories I've read in the scripture of the things that are going on in the past. I can believe that he's gonna do this in the present.

This is why it is so vastly important, first of all, that you are in God's word, Old and New Testament. Have you ever noticed how much God has changed in you? noticed how much of the New Testament principles are illustrated with Old Testament stories? That New Testament faith is illustrated by Old Testament courage? And we see that throughout Scripture. That's why you need to be in God's Word. Not only because it is your instructions

for life, but it is your reminder of God's past faithfulness. That God has done this for all of the saints in the past. This is why you should start finding biographies of believers in Jesus Christ, autobiographies, however it has to be, books about people who have followed Jesus and have watched God's faithfulness. Because it builds your faith. This is why I tell young people, what

you need to do is you need to find people who have walked with Jesus for a long time and say, tell me your stories of faith. Because those stories of past faithfulness will build present confidence. This is why you need to get together with other believers. This is why you need fellowship. This is why you cannot forsake the gathering together of the body of Christ. Because as we tell each other the stories

of God's past faithfulness, it creates in our lives that sense of present confidence. And that's why you need to keep Ebenezer stones for yourself. Do you know what Ebenezer stones are? From the book of Joshua, when the children of Israel got to the edge of the promised land, they got all the way to the edge and they came to the Jordan River, which was overflowing its banks. And in order to get into the promised land, they had to cross the Jordan River.

Well, they'd kind of seen this tree before, but only a handful of them, only Joshua and Caleb, really had seen the crossing of the Red Sea. And so as they come to the edge of the Jordan River, as they come to the edge, they had to do something different. You see, with the crossing of the Red Sea, the sea parted and then they crossed. But with the crossing of the Jordan River, it was very different. He told them, he said, you need to put your feet into the water. And when you

put your feet into the water, the waters will part and you will go across. Because now it was going to be a walk by faith. And that's exactly what they did. They said, you need to put your feet into the water. They stepped into the water, got part of the waters and they crossed. And God said, before you finish, I want you to grab 12 stones and I want you to build an altar with those 12 stones, a memorial

to remind you of the fact that you walked into this land by faith. That way, in future generations, when people say, what's with the pile of rocks? You can say, that is where we learned to live by faith. You need that in your life. Sometimes an ebony or stone is that you've written it down somewhere so that you can pull it out. My wife and I were just talking about this the other day. We're in positions where sometimes

people write us really nice letters and it's really great. And sometimes when you're going through really hard times, you pull out those nice letters and you're reminded that, hey, your life really does make a difference to somebody. You're not just doing nothing. And so those are really good reminders for us. I have old journals that I love to pull out sometimes and look back through and see what God did for me. And, you know, February 25th of

2020, I'm going to be able to read those letters. And I'm going to be able to read those letters. And I'm going to be able to read those letters. And I'm going to be able to read those letters. 2022 and the different things that God does. And maybe your ebony or stone is a painting on your wall. My mom has one of those in her house. Whatever it is, you need reminders of God's

past faithfulness because it creates in your heart a present confidence. And so David, first of all, tells us of the confidence that he has in the Lord. But the second thing that he tells us about as he tells us about God's presence and his desire for God's presence. Notice what it says, verse 4. One thing I have asked from the Lord, and that I shall seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will conceal me in his tabernacle. In the secret place of his tent he will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock. And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy. Yes, I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

He tells us about God's presence. And I love how he starts this off. He says, one thing have I desired of the Lord. You know why? Because when you have been through some hard things in life, and if you're really new in your walk right now, you just need to know this. When you go through hard things in your life, when you go through the difficulties, what you'll find is that the greatest,

the greatest place of enjoyment, the greatest place of joy, the greatest place of peace that you'll have is in the presence of the Lord. It comes in interesting ways, but it always comes from the presence of the Lord. Because that ultimately is what you seek. And so the longer you walk with Jesus, the more you seek after the presence of God. The more the temporary things of this earth become a little more dim to you,

the more you realize that the temporary pleasures of this earth are just that, they're just temporary, that the escapes that you have, that at one point in time, they really don't do that much for you anymore. What you need is the presence of the Lord. And that's what this young psalmist David says. He says, he says here, he says, one thing have I desired, and that shall I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord.

That doesn't mean he actually wants to live in the tabernacle, although that could be fun too. No, the idea is I want to live in the presence of God. Because as he writes in another psalm, in his presence is fullness of joy. And I'm here to tell you right now, this is the best thing you can do right now. You should seek the presence of the Lord in every aspect of your life.

Now, that doesn't mean you have to always be hidden away in a prayer closet, because that's not real life. You can't really live that way. But in every aspect of your life, you can seek the presence of the Lord. For me, it starts in my prayer closet in the morning, or my prayer patio as it is. It starts there for me in the morning, but it continues throughout the day.

And I find myself throughout the day just continually going, Lord, I just need your presence again. And he's always faithful to provide that. Amen. Greatest places, as I've shared with you before, my greatest place of the presence of God is when I'm able to go run and just let my mind go free, because that's me in Jesus' time. But that carries into every other part of my life.

Because he says I need that presence of the Lord, because it's in the presence of the Lord that there is true fullness of joy. It's in the presence of the Lord that there is perfection. And he goes on to describe what his desire for the presence of the Lord is. He says that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord.

And to meditate in his temple. To behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in his temple. The word beauty there could also be translated perfections. I thought that was an interesting way to translate that word. To behold or to truly take in all of the perfections of the Lord. Do you know those are all around you every day? All of those beautiful things of the Lord are around you every day.

Sometimes it's in the people that you interact with. Sometimes it's not in the people that you interact with. But sometimes it's in the people that you interact with. And being able to be in fellowship with another believer. You just behold the beauty of the Lord because you watch God's grace in their life be poured out to you. We've experienced that over the past few months.

We've watched the beauty of the Lord as it's been poured out through the body of Christ. And I know that the Davises are experiencing that right now because I've talked to them quite a bit. And they've said they've been kind of blown away by the presence of the body of Christ for them. And can I just say praise God because if I do anything I want to make sure that it's that I point you to not only love Jesus but to love the people.

Because that's what we're called to do. That's a part of beholding the beauty of the Lord. Sometimes it's just being outside and seeing the creation of God and to be able to behold His beauty. And of course one of my favorite things to do is to go out at night and to behold the beauty of the Lord. I've told you lots of times before but one of my favorite moments with my youngest daughter when she was about three years old.

As I took her outside in a real dark clear night and she looked up in the sky and she goes, Daddy, look. Because she was just amazed at all of the stars that she could see. And I love that because that's beholding the perfections of the Lord. As you see those things you're just kind of in awe of what God is able to do. Because that's being in God's presence.

Because His presence is everywhere but being aware of His presence is what we're looking for. And so David says to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple. In other words, to just truly set your mind on the things that are above. Because it reminds us of that presence of the Lord. Why does he need that presence of the Lord? Because in the presence of the Lord, notice what he says in verse 5.

In the day of trouble when I'm in the presence of the Lord, He will conceal me in His tabernacle. In the secret place of His tent He will hide me and He will lift me up on a rock. I want to talk about those two first words that he says happens in the presence of the Lord. First is that He conceals me and that He hides me. Because that's what God does. Because with those who are in His presence, I'm going to remind you of one more Old Testament story.

Maybe just one more, at least one more. It is the story of Daniel. Remember the story of Daniel in the lion's den? Daniel was told he couldn't pray to his God any longer because the other leaders were jealous of him. So they set up this decree where anybody that prayed to any other God other than Nebuchadnezzar or other than Darius would be thrown into the lion's den.

And of course Daniel went home just like he did every other night. He opened his curtains and he faced Jerusalem and he prayed to the Lord and they caught him. They said, you have to throw this guy in the lion's den. And so Daniel gets thrown in the lion's den. What happens to Daniel in the lion's den? Nothing. He curls up next to some lions and probably had the best sleep he could have imagined.

Why? Because he was in the presence of the Lord. And what happens when you're in the presence of the Lord? You are concealed and you are hidden. But listen, sometimes in the presence of God it doesn't mean that you're going to be delivered from the physical world. The physical things on this side of life. I'm reminded of the very first martyr of the church.

The very first martyr of the church was a guy by the name of Stephen who also dwelled in the presence of the Lord. And as he dwelled in the presence of the Lord, he was accused by the Jewish leaders of blasphemy because he decided to put Jesus first in his life. And as he put Jesus first in his life, they determined that they were going to stone him to death. And so they drug him outside of the city and they stoned him to death.

And you're thinking, Ryan, I thought you said in the presence of God he conceals me and he hides me and he is my deliverance. He is because you remember the last thing that came out of Stephen's mouth? He said, I see Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. And he was about to deliver him for all time. Because in the presence of the Lord is fullness of joy.

Which is why David says, One thing have I desired of the Lord and that will I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold his beauty and to meditate in his temple because in the day of trouble he will conceal me and he will hide me. And the last thing he says is that he will lift me up on a rock. I tried to look up that phrase and I think you know where I'm going to go here. That phrase lift up.

It means to lift up. Really great interpretation. But it's a beautiful thought, isn't it? Because he says he'll lift me up on a rock. Again, I'm reminded back to the words of Psalm 40 where he says, He pulled me up out of the pit of the miry clay and he placed my feet upon a rock. And what came next? Same thing that comes next right here in Psalm 27. He says, And so I will sing praises to the Lord.

My head is lifted up above my enemies around me and I will offer in his tent shouts of joy. And I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. Now we have to understand that when David says my head will be lifted up, textually speaking, he's talking about being lifted up in power. But I want to remind you of something. Not only does it mean that his head will be lifted up in power,

but you know as well as I do that when you are downcast, that's exactly what it sounds like. Sometimes you can't look up. Sometimes you're just looking down because of the sadness in your life or because of the hardship in your life or because of the difficulty in your life. And one of the things that you realize in the presence of the Lord is that you can lift up your head again.

Not only to see the world around you, but to see Jesus because that's what he does for us. And when he does that, listen, it always results in us praising the Lord. It always results in us praising God. And here in just a little bit, not right now, don't take this as the cue. Here in just a little bit, they're going to come up and sing this last song and I want you to do something for me.

I want you to belt it out like you never have before because God is the God who is your light, who is your salvation, and who is your defense. And he lifts you up. And now you're one. And now your job is to sing praises to your God, the God who has given you his presence. Amen? Wait, I still have two points left. Number three. Number three is pleading. I love this because I feel like all of this has built up to this moment

because David reminded us in the first few verses about his confidence in God because of God's past faithfulness. He has enemies around him. There are wars that come against him. All of these things. He has confidence in the Lord. And his greatest desire is to be in the presence of the Lord. But now he actually gets to his prayer. Look at what it says in verse seven.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer. When you said, Seek my face, my heart said to you, Your face, O Lord, I shall seek. Don't hide your face from me. Don't turn your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Don't abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me up.

Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me in a level path because of my foes. Don't deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries. For false witnesses have arisen against me, and such as breathe out violence. He really prays four things. The first thing he prays is, Hear me when I cry. Have you ever found yourself praying that? Like when something's really hard, you're like,

Can you just hear me when I cry? I don't even know that David's talking about real words right now, or whether he's just talking about the cry of his heart, the cry of his emotions, the cry of what he doesn't know how to put into words. Whatever it is, he says, Lord, would you just hear me? Hear me when I cry out to you. Because you know as well as I do that just like the psalmist David,

even though it's not true, it feels like the prayers hit the ceiling sometimes. And even if they make it past the ceiling, they can't get past the atmosphere. They just stop right there, and God doesn't ever hear it. And so we find ourselves saying, Hear me when I cry. Lord, be gracious to me and answer me. Why? Because you said for me to seek your face. Lord, this is what you told me to do.

And so your face is what I'm seeking. And did you notice this next prayer? Don't hide your face from me. Lord, you're the one that I'm seeking. Don't make yourself unknown to me. Lord, you're the one that I'm seeking. Don't hide yourself from me. It feels like you're a little bit hidden right now. And can we just be honest about something, and not be spiritual for just a moment?

And say that sometimes in the hardest times of life, it feels like God is in hiding. And I don't want you to think, Oh, that's the man that doesn't have faith. No, I have an incredible amount of faith in God. I have an incredible amount of confidence in God. But I'm just going to be honest. There's times where you're like, Jesus, where you at, bro? It feels like you're hiding right now.

You told me to seek you. Hear me when I cry. Don't hide from me. I had a young lady come up to me the other day, after I got done speaking to a group of kids. And she said, Why do I sometimes feel like God isn't there? Why do I sometimes feel that way? And all I could do is look at her and say, Because sometimes it feels that way. Because sometimes even though God is at work,

even though God is there, it feels like he's not. And what he wants you to do is just keep seeking him, and you tell him that it feels like he's not there. Because God's not insecure about that, and he will reveal himself to you. Because that's how he feels sometimes. Can we be honest about that? This is probably one of those weeks for some people where you're kind of like, Well, God,

where you at on this one? I actually had some people say that to me. I've kind of felt that way this week. Like, Listen, Lord, I don't get this one. This one doesn't make sense to me. I don't always need everything to make sense, but every now and then I like half a clue. And David says, Lord, don't hide your face from me. This is a part of his pleading for the Lord.

And you go, Wait a second. I thought this was the David that had confidence. Listen, this is the reality of life. This is the reality of the world that we live in. You can have a great amount of confidence in the Lord and still have a question in the back of your mind. Right? You ever been on a plane? Same thing. Right? And a great amount of confidence in the pilot,

still a little question in the back of your mind. And that's the way it is with the Lord sometimes. Which is why you have to lay it out to him just like David is right now. And so he makes his next prayer after he says, after he says, Hear my cry, notice what he says. He says, Lord, don't forsake me. Verse 9, Don't hide your face from me. Don't turn your servant away in anger.

You have been my help. Don't abandon me or forsake me, O God of my salvation. For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me up. I want you to notice how that builds. He says, Lord, it seems like you're hiding from me, so hear me when I cry. Number 2, he says, Don't forsake me, Lord. Don't hide yourself from me. Don't turn away from me.

You have always been my help. You, Lord, will take me up. See, that's a statement of faith in the midst of fear. As he says, Don't forsake me. Don't abandon me. Don't turn away from me. I know that you're going to take care of me. Statements of faith in the midst of fear. Believing what we know to be true whether we feel like it or not. Believing what we know to be true

whether it feels true or not. Because the truth doesn't always feel true. Can we be honest about that? That's what our feelings do to us. Sometimes. But he says, I'm going to continue to believe. But he says, Please don't turn your face from me. Please don't forsake me. Please don't abandon me. I know you're not going to, Lord. But please don't. I tell you this to tell you.

You should be incredibly honest with God in your prayers. You should be incredibly honest with God in the hardest points of time in your life. Because God can handle it. He's not scared of it. And He just wants to minister to you. But until you do that, until you can get honest with God in your prayers, it's really hard for Him to do His work in your heart.

The next thing he prays is this. He prays, Teach me. It says right there in verse 11. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me in a level path because of my foes. Why does he say this? Because he's facing difficulty and he needs God to show him the best way to walk through it. He's facing hardship and he needs God to show him the best way to navigate it. He's facing some difficulties

and he needs God to show him the best way to do it. Say, Lord, teach me what I'm supposed to do in this situation. That is a day-by-day prayer in our lives. Especially when navigating difficulties. Especially when navigating grief. Say, Lord, I need you to teach me how to navigate this. Lord, I need you to teach me how to walk through this. Lord, I need you to teach me how to approach this.

And I'm here to tell you right now, again, from someone who knows, God's faithful to do it every single time. God is faithful to lead you in the way that you're supposed to go. He's faithful to give you that level path to walk in. He's faithful to lead you to the places in Scripture where you need to be. To lead you to the places in His Word where you need to be.

To the places of people that you need to be talking to. Just how you're supposed to live your life in the midst of difficulty. One of the things that you face when you face great loss is you find yourself saying, what do I do now? How do I live a new normal? Do you know that God's able to teach you that? He's able to show you what the new normal looks like.

And He's able to take that which is the hardest and turn it into your story that becomes your great victory. That becomes the way that God uses you in a way that you didn't even know was possible. I'll give you my friend Levi Lusko who pastors a very large church in Montana. And quite a few years back now his five year old daughter had a had an asthma attack.

And they ended up losing her in the midst of that asthma attack. And he has taken that story, that greatest grief that he could have ever imagined and he has turned it into his platform with which he reaches people all over the world with the fact that God offers healing in the midst of the greatest hurt. He doesn't lie about it. He says just because there's hope doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. And there will always be an empty place

at the table. But the fact of the matter is God's comfort is greater than the hurt. God's comfort is greater than the hardship. And now he's given me a platform to tell everybody else. Matter of fact one of my favorite lines from a book that he wrote about us at the very end. He said on the day that she closed her eyes for the last time, mine were truly opened. And I thought that was fantastic.

Because that's what God does with us in the hardest of times. He gives us now a way that our eyes are opened like we could have never imagined so that we can see people that we have never even seen before. And so he says teach me your way oh Lord and show me how to walk in the path and then this simple prayer deliver me. Deliver me from my foes. Deliver me from

my adversaries. Deliver me from those who have risen against me and those who breathe out violence against me. Lord would you just deliver me from the hurt and the hardship. Just a simple prayer Lord deliver me. And so as David gives us this psalm the first thing he does is he tells us about the confidence that he has in God. Confidence because of God's past faithfulness.

And then he cries out for God's presence because he knows that his greatest place of refuge, his greatest place of safety, the greatest place where he is concealed and hidden and lifted up is in the presence of the Lord. And then he pleads to God to hear him, to deliver him, to teach him. And then he closes with a beautiful couple of verses on hope. Notice what he says.

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes wait for the Lord. I love the way he closes this and quite frankly God spoke this to me several weeks ago. Right before my dad passed. And it was what I held on to in the process of watching dad go home to be with

Jesus. And that's why this Psalm was so precious to me as I navigated this week in the loss of somebody else that we love so much. And I just love the way he starts. He goes I would have despaired. I would have despaired. And isn't that the place where a lot of us go to as we go straight to the place of despair? We go straight to the place of nothing's ever going to heal this. Nothing's

ever going to deal with this. Nothing's ever going to put all these pieces back together. I always like to use the example of what God's able to do. That God is a God who heals. I used to have this coffee cup that I loved. I've shared this story lots of times. I used to have this coffee cup that I loved so much. And it had pictures of the girls all over it when they were tiny.

I got it for Father's Day one year. And I took it to work with me every single day because I'm one of those renegades that likes to drive with a cup with no lid on it. I'm a maverick. And so, it's about as dangerous as it gets at 45, I think. But anyway, it is what it is. So I take that with me to work and I set it on the workbench and one of my coworkers knocks it off the

workbench and it hits the concrete floor. It shatters into just a thousand little pieces. And I remember thinking one thing. How am I ever going to put this back together? There's just no way. No way that ever gets put back together. Can I say that's exactly what David means when he says, I would have despaired. It's like watching the coffee cup fall off the end

of the workbench and hitting the concrete floor and thinking to yourself, I am never going to put this back together. He says, that's how I would have felt. And listen, if that's how sometimes you feel, you need to know that's normal. That's a natural reaction to the difficulties of life. Whether it's the difficulties of losing someone that you love or just the difficulties

that we go through in life. Sometimes you find yourself despairing going, how am I ever going to put this all back together? How am I ever going to over come this? How am I ever going to get to the place where I'm healed again? Well, he says it right here. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. The

goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Now, I'm going to tell you how I've always taken this verse. And I don't think it's an inaccurate way to take this verse. But I think there's another way to look at it too. But this is the way I've always taken this verse. And this is the hope that we have as believers in Jesus Christ. He says, I would have despaired unless I

would see, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. How I've always taken this verse. And it's even how I took it up to the last week. Even when I was going through everything with my father. Is that my hope is believing that one day I will see him again. That one day I will be able to see him and he will be completely

healed and I will be completely healed and everything will be restored. And listen, that is a place of great hope and I think we should live in that hope. We should live in that hope when we lose somebody that we love. Because it would be easy to despair unless we believe that we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Unless we had an eternal hope.

Because that's what we have as believers in Jesus Christ. We don't grieve as those with no hope. We don't grieve like the rest of the world does. I have zero idea how you face death as an unbeliever. I have zero idea how you face the death of your loved one when they're an unbeliever. It is hard. You just have to hope in God's mercy and hope in God's peace.

Because that's the only thing you've got at that point in time without knowing that they're home with Jesus. But we as believers in Jesus Christ, we don't grieve as those with no hope. We grieve on this side of eternity because we miss them, but we know that they are living a great life. Somebody wrote a comment on one of the social media posts that I read. He said, man, tragic

on this side of life. But can you imagine how much fun he's having right now? Right? Can you imagine how much fun he's having right now? And I thought, isn't that great? It was a great reminder for me in that moment because I was pretty raw, still am, pretty shocked at that point in time. But it was a great reminder that we have hope as believers in Jesus Christ. But there's still

grief on this side of eternity. Again, Levi in his book said, just because there's hope doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. So how do we deal with things on this side of eternity? How do we deal with things here? Yes, I've got hope for there. That's great. But how do I live life here? Well, really what he's saying here, and I struggled with this when I first read

this. I was reading a commentary that was digging into the words and they said really what he's addressing here when he says the land of the living in Hebrew language, he is not talking about eternity. He is talking about life. Life on topside of planet earth. J. Vernon McGee's words, not mine. But he's talking about life. He's not talking about eternity. I thought, no, that's

not what he's talking about there. He's talking about eternity because that's the hope that we have. But the more I've prayed and meditated on this this week, the more I thought, no. He's saying I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord on this side of eternity too. You know why I know that? Because in each of the shocking losses that I've been

through, and I've been through several now, most of them family members, in the shocking losses that I've been through, each one reminds me that God brings healing not just on the other side of eternity, but he brings healing on this side of eternity too. Yeah, there's always going to be a little bit of an empty seat at a table. There is still joy that we can have in Jesus Christ. And that's what David here is saying. I would have despaired

unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. If that's you today, if you are in despair, I want you to know God is able to bring healing on this side of eternity too. He is able to restore your joy. He is able to heal you on this side of eternity. So don't despair. Instead, this is what you should do. Verse 14. Wait for the Lord.

Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord. He says the first thing that you need to do is you need to learn to wait for the Lord. To wait for the Lord. The word wait there means to hope for or to look for expectantly. To hope for or to look for expectantly. Now, in the waiting time, that does not mean that you sit around and do nothing.

In the waiting time is seeking time. Waiting on the Lord means seeking the Lord. Sometimes seeking the Lord means sitting in silence and allowing God to minister to your heart. To truly get in touch with what's going on inside of you so that you can have that prayer time that's necessary. Because one of the biggest issues we have with seeking the Lord right now is there's zero silence.

In the world that we live in. Everything is always calling for your attention. Everything is always calling for your affection. Everything is always trying to pull at you to try to get you to pay attention. That's why you have alerts on your phone. All these alerts are trying to pull for your attention. Meanwhile, God is saying I want your attention because that's

how you wait on me. And so sometimes the beginning of the waiting time is a time of silence. But then it's truly a time of seeking. And looking for what God wants to do for you. Looking for what God wants to do in you. And looking for what God wants to do through you. Because God wants to take all of the things. Because nothing in our life is wasted as far as God is concerned.

God uses everything, good, bad, and ugly for our good and for his glory. But it starts with us waiting on the Lord. And as you wait on the Lord often times he begins to minister things to your heart. He begins to show you things. He'll show you things about himself. He'll show you things about his word. He'll show you things about other people that you need to minister to.

Take this for instance. I'd always looked at verse 13 very differently. Until I started waiting on the Lord this week. And as I waited and I studied and I prayed and I meditated, God ministered something brand new to me. Always does. One of my favorite stories that I've ever heard about J. Vernon McGee. I tell this story all the time. But it seems to fit here really, really well.

One of my favorite stories I've ever heard about J. Vernon McGee. Who is just a fantastic old Texas southern commentator. Right? Bible teacher. Extraordinary. And I heard David Hawking tell this story. He said, I remember watching the last time that J. Vernon McGee ever spoke in front of a congregation. His body was riddled with cancer. And as he had to be helped up

onto the stage, he began to teach out of a psalm. I don't remember personally right now what psalm it was. He said he began to teach out of a psalm. And he said I can't begin to tell you how many times I have taught this psalm. But this time God gave me something brand new. You know why? Because he probably would have despaired unless he believed that he had seen the goodness

of the Lord in the land of the living. And so he chose to wait on the Lord. Do you know what we're told in the book of Isaiah? They that wait upon the Lord they will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. That's what we're told that waiting does for us. And in the waiting time, what does he tell us to do?

He says to be strong and let your heart take courage. In other words, strengthen your heart in the Lord. Continue to strengthen your heart with the things of God. Remind yourself of the truth. Remind yourself of the faithfulness. Be around other people that will remind you of the truth and remind you of the faithfulness. Don't withdraw. Get with God's people.

Remind yourself of what God has done in the past because that will strengthen your heart. I've had to do that a lot in the past month. I've had to really get with God's people and I've had to really spend time reminding myself of what God has done. Because as you do so, it will strengthen your heart. And then he closes with that wonderful phrase one more time.

Wait, I say, on the Lord. Brothers and sisters, this is a hard time we're going through right now as a congregation. It's a hard time families are going through right now as they're facing the loss of somebody that they love. But I'm here to tell you right now, we can still have confidence. And we can still say life may be hard, but I still believe. Amen? Let's all stand.

And if you'd bow with me. Father, we come to you now. And Lord, I praise you for your goodness to us. Lord, I thank you that you are able to speak to us through your word by the power of your Holy Spirit. I praise you that you're able to minister to us through song. And Lord, I praise you for all of the past acts of faithfulness that you've done, not only in our own lives,

the lives of the people around us, the lives of believers throughout history, the lives of those who wrote down these words in the canon of Scripture so that we can hold on to them forever. And Lord, as we are reminded of your faithfulness, may we continue to be confident. And so Father, as we sing this last song, may it be with every fiber of our being. May it be with the brokenness in our heart.

Lord, may it be with a love for you. And Lord, may it be a cry of faith in the midst of fear. Father, we just thank you for who you are. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. Take some time this morning, God, and express our gratitude to you this morning, Jesus. For what you've done for us, Lord God. And for the peace in times like these where we're just grieving. And so Lord, I just

pray that your Holy Spirit will continue to comfort us and bring us peace in the middle of the day. As we leave here today, we love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. All God's people said, Amen. You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you.