Perspective

good morning would y'all stand welcome to calvary chapel this morning i want to welcome those who are watching online would you join me in prayer father we thank you for this opportunity this morning to come and worship you in song study your word together lord i pray for your blessing on the service i want to lift up the children's church teachers that you would bless them as they teach the youngsters and that you would give them listening ears to hear and eyes to see hearts to perceive lord what you have we pray that for us in here too and we just ask for your blessing on the nursery workers as they look after the little ones lord just bless that and just bless our

ushers as they greet and meet folks and have a handle on the out out in the hall area and and we just want to ask for your blessing on all that come in here this morning we'll all take note we've spent time with you jesus here in this sanctuary we would ask lord that you would let our hearts be relaxed to let go and worship you lord not by how we feel but by faith we look to you the author and the finisher of our faith lord and we need to look to you we can't do it without trusting you lord

we look to you lord and we just want to pray that we can and we need to worship you lord and we live sandная this is a mess around here we are in pentecost jesus said kandahar samia it's a big day it's a mess they quan shuttle jesus said all around jesus asked the missus cold 안�isme to shout but God's we're his we're his this morning you may be seated Father we just thank you that we're yours we thank you for your grace that unmerited favor nothing we could earn but it's by grace we're saved through faith not that of ourselves but it's a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast and we know Lord that we're your workmanship created in Christ Jesus and to good works which God had before ordained that we should walk in them we have nothing

we really are nothing Lord and Lord we thank you Lord that in our weakness you're made strong as Ryan taught us through in 2nd Corinthians there Lord and we just thank you that you are the author and finisher of our faith we can look to you in all things Lord and we give you thanks worthy of our praise this morning and we come to you just as we are the life you've given us thank you Jesus would you all stand

upon you and be gracious to you and Lord turn this door and shine your family's presence low before you all before you we thank you for your blessing Lord we pray it upon us Lord we ask for your blessing we thank you we love you Father you know the hearts of each of us as we gather this morning what we may be facing what we may be doing what we may be rejoicing about or what we may be weeping about you know Lord you know our hearts and so we come to you Lord just as we are do your work Lord as you've begun that work in us this morning to encourage us to trust you to look to you Lord so Father we just ask for your blessing as Ryan teaches your word anointing by the power of your Holy Spirit that it will do its work in our hearts

and that we will respond in obedience because you first loved us we love you in Jesus name Amen let's have some fellowship good morning glad you could be with us this morning if you would go ahead and locate your seat grab a bulletin we'll get ready to go over some announcements second service is always so much better at quieting down than first service I'm just going to be honest about that like I don't mind it it's good but it's just funny fewer of them okay over on the left hand side of your bulletin everything is happening this week as usual so find some places to get plugged into also the prophecy update that is the second Thursday of every month is going to be this Thursday as well so that'll be at the other end of the hallway with Rick Hawkins

so take note of that over the middle section of your bulletin we have our fellowship breakfast coming up August 14th not April 14th that's a long ways away or it happened a long time ago either way you look at it not now August 14th which is this coming Thursday Saturday men will meet back there in the back and the ladies will be over at Bricks both of them at 8 o'clock we also have our baptism and family fun evening this coming Sunday August the 15th from 5 to 8 I've got quite a few folks signed up to get baptized which is always so exciting baptisms are one of my favorite things to do so take note of that but also remember even if you're not getting baptized come join us because it's going to be a lot of fun we've got the pool

and all the things that we're going to be doing all of the fun things at Camp Horizon plus if you bring a dish to share we can all eat together and it'd be a good time the other thing to pay attention to is that Mark Austin with the Jesus Film Project is coming this Wednesday August the 11th at 7 o'clock so tell all your friends he always has some amazing things to share about the work that the Lord is doing in some otherwise very closed countries with this Jesus Film Project and so we're excited to hear what he has to share with us I actually ran into him at Brahms the other day because spiritual people go to Brahms and eat ice cream and I lost what I was saying I was thinking about cookie dough ice cream we had a great conversation and he's excited

and I'm excited about what he has to share with us so one thing that is not in your bulletin is next Sunday as well is the Sunday school promotion so all of the kiddos will be I think making some sort of a change in Sunday school classes next week they'll be doing it back I don't think anything takes place in here but parents just take note of that 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 8 and for the responsive reading we'll be looking at the New American Standard just so we all sound the same should be one in your row if you don't have that particular translation with you and as you are turning to Psalm 8

if you would stand in the honor of the reading of God's word Psalm 8

I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even verses Psalm 8 for the choir director on the Getith a Psalm of David O Lord our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth who have displayed your splendor above the heavens from the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have established strength because of your adversaries to make the enemy and the revengeful cease when I consider your power to be your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have ordained what is man that you take thought of him and the son of man that you care for him yet you have made him a little lower than God and you crowned him with glory and majesty you make him to rule over the works of your hands

you have put all things under his feet all sheep and oxen and also the beasts of the field the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea whatever passes through the paths of the seas O Lord our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth and Father we come before you and do just thank you for who you are I thank you Lord that though you are the creator of the heavens and the earth the almighty God Lord you see fit to kneel down and listen to us to care about us individually and to make a way for us to know you to be in relationship with you and so Father I pray that you would be with us in this moment I pray that as we spend time in your word this morning that you would get our minds set on you Lord that you would focus our eyes on you

the author and the finisher of our faith in Jesus name Amen you may be seated if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Psalm to the book of Psalms chapter 33 Psalm 33 so last week we finished up the book of 2nd Corinthians and my plan is for us to go next into the book of Matthew and I'm going to go next to the book of Matthew but as I was thinking about that this week the Lord really gave me a message out of my devotional life I was reading in the Psalms and came across Psalm 33 and it was one of those times where the Lord just laid out for me all of the points and everything just in my devotional time and I was able just to write it all in my journal and I didn't think too much about it at the time

I thought man this is something I really need to hear and then the Lord really impressed upon my heart that I was supposed to share this for Sunday morning so the title of this morning's message is Perspective because I think we're in a time again where our perspective's getting a little bit off with everything that's gone on in the last year and a half I feel like there's been certain points in time where I can say oh man I think for me personally I can see my eyes getting off of Jesus and starting to get on all of the things that are going on in the world around us my mindset can sometimes be distracted by all of the craziness that's going on in the world and in fact I would venture to say that if you had a conversation this week

it probably ended with something like man it's a crazy world we're living in right now because that's how most of our conversations are ending because the world is a little nuts and I was thinking about that with the things going on in the world that are causing us to perhaps lose a little bit of perspective I thought about first of all the issues taking place not only in our own government but governments throughout the world it just feels like things are out of control and a little chaotic right now and as we look we also see the fact that no matter which side of the political aisle you sit on there's very great division that takes place and sometimes it's easy to lose our perspective of who Jesus is and the fact that God's in control

when we start thinking about all those things I've taken note of all of the natural disasters that have been taking place not only domestically but globally the fact that there's been floods in all kinds of places throughout the world earthquakes an entire town in California got wiped out by a wildfire the other day and it just feels like intense right now like all of the things that we feel going on in the world there's an intensity and sometimes we can get our eyes a little off of Jesus as we think about the intensity of these things I'm reminded of the fact that we have the return of COVID and I'm not talking about a sweet Batman movie right like it's the fact that we're seeing it surge again in our area as well as in our nation

and the concerns that go along with that not only the concerns about whether or not we'll get a virus but the concerns about what will happen with our freedoms through all of it which brings me to the next thing that we find ourselves distracted by and that's debates over things like vaccines and masks right it doesn't matter what conversation you get into with somebody you're probably going to end up talking about one of those two things because you're talking about what's going to happen when school starts well I don't know it depends on what they're going to do with masks and vaccines then because of that we can get our perspective off of what needs what is needful and important and on to debates that we really need not give our time to

and then of course the last thing that I've taken note of is all of the supply shortages we went to I don't know I helped somebody pick up a piece of furniture the other day it was a nightstand and they said do you have a matching nightstand that goes with it and they said we'll have to order it but you need to know something I can't guarantee when it'll get here and I can't guarantee how much it'll cost because nobody's guaranteeing shipping dates and nobody's guaranteeing prices on furniture right now and that's just about everything that you buy everything in the world we seem to be out of right now now listen I can handle being out of a whole lot of things but do you know what I read an article about the other day

I read an article about the shortage of coffee I can't take that I can't survive that that's not awesome right as soon as I read that I'm like surely Jesus is coming anytime now the coffee's about to run out and all of these things you go to a store right now and they're like we're out of that we're out of that we're out of that by the time you're done you're like okay give me the short list of what you have and I'll choose from that when I make my order right now right that's how it feels and because of that we sense the intensity of it and we go oh man and we lose perspective not only that but in our personal lives I think sometimes we can get overwhelmed by things I know many of us can get overwhelmed by family

we can get overwhelmed with taking care of kids taking care of the things that happen in life some of you are overwhelmed with taking care of loved ones taking care of maybe parents even that are getting sick or you're having to work in their lives and sometimes you personally are feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities that is going on in your life some of you are overwhelmed with the responsibilities that is family some of you are overwhelmed with the responsibility that is your job sometimes not because you can't find a job but because they can't find other people to work at your job and so you're working three people's jobs instead of just that one and you're feeling a little bit overwhelmed personally

with the things that are going on in your workplace some of you are feeling a little bit overwhelmed with the busyness of life because as much as it was kind of fun for things to be shut down and enjoy not going anywhere when the shutdown ended we went back to busyness with great fervor and great vigor and now you go I don't even know when the last time I just sat down and thought was because I'm just running to and fro and I'm so busy and some of you are overwhelmed with finances because everything is getting more expensive you find yourself saying so how are we going to pay for fill in the blank here because that cost three times more than it did a year ago and as we go through all of these things we can find ourselves getting our eyes off of Jesus

and on to the wind and the waves that are around us which reminds us that we're not alone it reminds me of a story reminds me of a story from the New Testament you'll probably know it but let's talk about it anyway because we're here right we may as well Jesus had just fed the 5,000 gave them more than they could possibly want as a matter of fact there were 12 baskets full of leftovers that the disciples were able to take with them and Jesus gave his disciples an order he said get in the boat and go to the other side of the sea I'll meet you later I need to go pray so the disciples get into the boat and they get to about the middle of the sea and a storm comes up a storm says and it's so great that they're all fearing for their lives

and as they're fearing for their lives these hardened fishermen who were not new to storms arising on the sea Jesus came walking to them on the water and because their faith in Jesus wasn't quite as good as it should be they believed that it was a ghost instead of Jesus and so they said who is that he said don't worry it's me it's Jesus and Peter says if that's Jesus then command me to come walk to you on the water and Jesus said get out of the boat and come on so Peter gets out of the boat and he starts walking on the water something he should have never done something he should have never been able to do but Peter had a problem Peter began to look at the wind and the waves around him and though he shouldn't have been able to walk on the water

in the calmest of circumstances he certainly couldn't walk on the water now because all he could see was the wind and the waves around him you see he took his eyes off of Jesus and he started looking at all of the circumstances he started looking at supply shortages he started looking at stressful jobs he started looking at stressful family situations he started looking at the government not being what he thought it should be and all of a sudden he found himself sinking but as he began to sink Peter did the one thing that you and I have to do in the process of losing our vision of Jesus he looked back up at Jesus stretched out his hand and said Lord help and it says immediately Jesus pulled him out of the water and they got into the boat this morning

as you are finding yourself looking at the wind and the waves around you we want to look at Psalm 33 because I hope that for you Psalm 33 is you yelling out Lord help me Lord help and we'll get back in the boat I'm going to be reading out of the New King James because that's what I'm doing my devotions in right now and it was just easier for me to do this because I marked all of the things I wanted in here so if it reads just mildly different it's okay same Bible just a different translation Psalm 33 Rejoice in the Lord O you righteous for praise from the upright is beautiful praise the Lord with the harp make melody to him with an instrument of ten strings praise the Lord with the harp with an instrument of ten strings sing to him a new song

and play skillfully with a shout of joy for the word of the Lord is right and his work is done in truth he loves righteousness and justice the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord by the word of the Lord the heavens were made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth he gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap he lays up the deep in storehouses let all the earth fear the Lord let all the earth fear the Lord let all the earth fear the Lord let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him for he spoke and it was done he commanded and it stood fast the Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing he makes the plan of the peoples of no effect the counsel of the Lord stands forever

the plans of his heart to all generations blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord the people he has chosen as his own inheritance the Lord looks from heaven he sees all the sons of men he sees all the sons of men from the place of his dwelling he looks on all the inhabitants of the earth he fashions their heart individually he considers all their works no king is saved by the multitude of an army a mighty man is not delivered by great strength a horse is a vain hope for safety neither shall it deliver any by its great strength behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him on those who hope in his mercy to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive and famine our soul waits for the Lord he is our help and our shield

for our heart shall rejoice in him because we have trusted in his holy name let your mercy oh Lord be upon us just as we hope in you that's a beautiful psalm isn't it from this psalm God gave me five things that I think will help hopefully reset our perspective and get our minds back on Jesus number one he gives an exhortation to praise he gives an exhortation to praise notice what he says rejoice in the Lord oh you righteous for praise from the upright is beautiful this is partly why I chose this translation over the new American standard because I like the verbiage that he uses here he says praise from the upright is beautiful I think the new American standard says praise is becoming of the upright but I like that word beautiful

because that's exactly how I feel when I can hear God's people say praise from the upright I love to hear the sound of all of God's people pouring out their hearts to God in praise and song as I sit among the congregation I share with first service there is nothing quite like a men's conference for this don't get me wrong I love the sound of women's voices but when it comes to listening to praise I love to hear a room full of men unashamedly praising God there is something booming about that there is something powerful about those deep voices all joined in one pouring out their praise to God I think it's because God made men to be spiritual leaders and so when men take the spiritual lead by praising God it is something beautiful but may I say

anytime I hear God's people pour out praise to the Lord it is truly a beautiful thing and if it's that beautiful to me just imagine what it is to God just imagine what it does for God's ears to hear all of those voices I was thinking about this with what praise does for us because I think praise plays a very important role in our lives number one I think praise puts me back in my place when I take time to worship and praise God in song it restores me to the place where I rightfully belong and that place is to be submissive and dependent upon God you see when I pour out my heart to God in praise when I'm singing His praises I have the distinct understanding that I have to be completely submissive to Him because He's the creator of the heavens

and the earth the one who made me but it also causes me to be dependent upon Him because I'm praising Him for the fact that He is mighty and His works are always good and His word is always true and it allows me the perspective of remembering that my proper place is not to handle all of my problems my proper place is not to be the one in control of everything my proper place is to be submitted to God and dependent completely upon Him but not only that it puts in my mind God back in His proper place because when I begin to praise God I praise Him for the fact that He is almighty the only one who is truly worthy to be praised and in my mind praise puts the perspective where it should be and I put God back in the place where He rightfully belongs

and that is on the throne of my life and friends if you're not living with God on the throne of your life then the wrong person is on the throne because I guarantee if God's not on the throne you are and it's time to reset the perspective but not only does it put me back in my place restore God to His place but it gives me the perspective for every situation in my life because I realize that nothing is too hard for God they're not my battles to fight any longer it's not mine to figure out any longer it's God's to figure out because my job is to be submitted and dependent upon Him His job is to be the almighty God who can handle anything that comes my way and it restores my perspective on every situation that I have in my life so he says

praise is beautiful to the Lord but notice what else he says he says praise the Lord verse 2 with a harp make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings sing to Him a new song the word new there means fresh he says sing to Him a fresh song now I think there's two different ways we can look at that first of all I think it's important that we continue writing worship songs I know that sometimes it's like no we only need to sing old hymns well there's something about singing a new song to the Lord there's something about singing a fresh song to the Lord because every generation though God has not changed is experiencing God in a different way in the truth of His word and are seeing God work in their generation in a different way

and so we should be writing songs about how God is working in this generation in this way it's okay it's okay that sometimes the newer worship songs aren't the way that sometimes the newer worship songs aren't the way that sometimes the older generation wants them and it's okay that the younger generation doesn't like the older generation's worship songs because that was how God worked in their generation that's okay we are to be singing to God a new song we're to be singing to God a fresh song you know what I like to encourage people to do write your own worship song that's what my pastor from Johnson County used to always tell us he said you should be writing your own worship songs he goes don't bring them to me I don't want them

but that's between you and God but you should be writing your own worship songs to the Lord you say right I don't want them to be singing to God I'm not the most musical person in the world I'm the least musical person in the world I do it all the time I just throw a few words together about what God means to me and I just belt them out as loud as I possibly can right usually I try to do those when no one else is around because nobody else wants to hear that worship song right if I brought those to any of the worship leaders they would be like oh that's sweet no because that's the right thing to do but you should be doing that because what God has done in your life is what God has done in your life and you should be praising God for it

but not only does it carry the idea of singing a fresh worship song and that brand new songs that have just been written but it carries with it the idea of singing to God with a fresh understanding of his grace and his mercy in your life I hope that every time you show up here on a Sunday morning I hope that every morning when you get up and hopefully take some time to sing to the Lord or maybe on your work you put a little worship music on and you sing to the Lord or maybe when you exercise you put a little worship music on and you sing to the Lord I hope that you do so with a fresh perspective on God's grace you know what we're told in scripture that his mercies are new with every morning and the longer I walk with Jesus the more I realize

I need those new mercies every single morning when I come together when we come together as the body of Christ our goal is to sing to God about those brand new mercies that fresh grace that he gives to us every single day I told first service you know that first 30 minutes of a Sunday morning service is not just so that you can wake up that first 30 minutes of our service on Sunday mornings is not just so that I can collect my thoughts to be able to come up here and teach the first 30 minutes is not just so that the late people can show up right like that's an important part of it but that's not the only reason why I went to a it's not just our church that has waves of people I don't know if you've noticed this or not

but there's waves of people that show up and for most of you I know what that means I know what that wave is so when you get here early I'm like hey look at that things are rolling this morning or when you come in late I'm like ooh they need to hear whatever I have to say because that took a little time to get in here this morning I went to this Calvary Chapel out in Aurora, Colorado one of my favorite pastors and we were on vacation a couple of years ago we went and saw him and we show up about 5 or 10 minutes early to this Calvary Chapel and it's a huge church and I show up and I'm like wow I anticipated there being a lot more people than this here because this is a huge building and there's like a lot of people and there's like a lot of people

and there's like a lot of people and there's like hardly anybody here when worship started and so we start singing and they dim the lights, it's great, praising Jesus little tears flowing not enough oxygen because it was Colorado anyway so it was an amazing time of worship and I opened my eyes at the end of worship and the whole room was full I thought it's not just our church because some of you don't know there's only 5 people here when church starts at 10 o'clock or 10.30 on a Sunday morning it's amazing but that's not what that first 30 minutes is for that first 30 minutes is to prepare our hearts for what God has to say to us because we need to reset our perspective and sing about that fresh grace that God has for us in our lives

to pour out our hearts to him so that he can then pour his heart into us he says take time to praise God and then he tells us why we praise him in verse 4 he says for the word of the Lord is right and his work is done in truth he says we praise him because of his word we praise him because of his word we praise him because of his work so he gives us this exhortation to praise number 2 for resetting our perspective is he tells us about the power of God the power of God notice what he says in verse 6 by the word of the Lord the heavens were made and all the host of him by the breath of his mouth he gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap he lays up the deep in storehouses let all the earth fear the Lord let all the inhabitants

stand in awe of him in order for him to tell us about the power of God what he does is he talks about creation and he says by the word of the Lord the heavens were formed one of the things I've always found to just be fascinating is creation all of nature is an amazing thing to me I remember the first time I ever went out to Colorado I was a little guy probably 9 or 10 years old and I was in the middle of the road and we went and visited a friend of ours that lived up in the mountains and we were riding horses through the mountains and I looked around and I said how can somebody see all of this and not believe that there is a creator because that's what you think every time you see God's creation you just go how can somebody look at this

and not think that there is a creator and then beyond that to think God actually spoke and those things happened right God said let there be light and there was light God spoke and there was a firmament God spoke and the dry ground came up and the waters gathered together I can't wait to watch that on DVR when we get to heaven right I want to see how creation took place I want to see how God spoke and all of a sudden the mountains began to form and they emerged and the seas gathered I want to see how God spoke all of the different fish into existence I want to see how God spoke and there were animals and here's what I want to know about the animals did they come out was God just like boom full grown deer or was God like let there be animals

that creep on the earth and it starts off small and you know fast motion just grows into what it's supposed to be I want to know how that worked because God could have done either that he wanted to which came first the chicken or the egg I'll never solve that problem until we get to heaven because it's kind of amazing to think about is it not and well of course you know God has a sense of humor because he gave us the alpaca right it's amazing what God did in his creation and he spoke it all into existence my youngest daughter has always been fascinated by the sky and so every time we'd go outside she was real real tiny I mean she was like she was like she could barely talk we'd go out and she'd look up at the stars and she'd say dad

because she was so in awe of what she could see and I love it because I feel the same way every time I go outside all I can do is just stare up at the sky I love when you go to the beach and when you go to the beach and there's not very much light out there on the beach and you hear the water washing up on the on the shore and you look out and you just see all of the stars that just go forever and you think God spoke all of those into existence God's power is so vast that he made all the different celestial bodies and he did so with great purpose he did so where the celestial bodies even declare his glory because it tells us in Psalms the heavens declare the glory of God and then I think about the power of water you ever thought about

just how powerful water actually is I was thinking about this before the service kind of in between and I was thinking about a cruise that we went on at one point in time and you know I don't know if you think about ever how heavy some of those boats are but those boats are incredibly huge tons and tons of weight and yet the water can hold them up how can the water do that because that's the way God made them because God is powerful he gave the water power and if all of those things of creation all of those things of nature are as powerful as they are and God spoke them into existence how powerful is God here's an even better question for you how small are our problems I don't mean to diminish any issue that anybody has going on in life

we'll talk about that in just a minute because God sees those things but I do want you to put all of the issues that we have in life in perspective to the great power of God because all of a sudden when I say if God is the God who spoke the world into existence then perhaps solving my financial crisis is really not that hard for him and I can rest in the fact that he's able to do that perhaps if God is the God who spoke all of the world into existence then he can handle a little supply shortage that we have in the western culture where we pretty much have everything we want in life anyway I'm pretty sure God can handle all of those things because he's powerful he goes on as he talks about the power of God to say let all the earth verse 8

fear the Lord and let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him I love that phrase let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him I have a question for you when's the last time you allowed yourself to be in awe of who God is when's the last time you just stopped looked at some amazing thing that God had created and just stepped back and said man God is amazing I've got a challenge for you I want you to just go out tonight as long as it's a clear night I want you to find some place where you can really see the stars and I want you to really just stop and look at the sky and allow yourself to be overwhelmed by what God has put up there and I want you to by all of the stars the galaxies everything that God has done and allow God

to strike you with awe and how powerful he is I promise you when he does it'll put all the rest of the issues that we're dealing with in life in their proper perspective that nothing is too difficult for God number three he tells us about the sovereignty of God notice we say that in verse 10 the Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing he makes the plans of the people of no effect the counsel of the Lord stands forever the plans of his heart to all generations blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord the people he's chosen as his own inheritance God causes the counsels of the nation to come to nothing what does that mean? it means people can make their plans God plots the course you see there's a lot of people right now in our world

that think that they're in charge and they think that they've done what they need to to put themselves in a very powerful position and they can lord that power over anybody but you know what I'm reminded of they would have no power if God had not given it to them as a matter of fact I bet there are some of you in this room right now who feel like an election was not actually valid I'm here to tell you right now I don't care who you voted for God has allowed our president to be in power because all leadership comes from God if you don't believe me just ask Daniel remember remember the story that we talked about right before right before the election because I know that there was all kinds of fear about who was going to end up winning the election

there was all kinds of fear about what's going to happen with this next election who's going to be in power in our country and I talked about Nebuchadnezzar and it was that time when Nebuchadnezzar went crazy perhaps we can have this teaching again at some point in time it was that time when Nebuchadnezzar went crazy and there was a phrase that was repeated over and over again it says until you realize that God is in charge and puts in power whoever he wants that's an important thing for us to pay attention to because while we are blessed with the freedom to be able to vote for our president we must also remember that God has a greater plan than just our freedoms here in the United States that he's working out in our world and he's done he's doing so

by being sovereign in the affairs of humanity and he puts in power who he wants to be in power do you think the children of Israel were excited that Nebuchadnezzar came in and took over Jerusalem that he carted guys like Daniel off to Babylon do you think he was they were excited about that no but you know what Daniel began to understand God is in charge and God brings leaders sometimes to bless a nation sometimes to judge a nation but sometimes to judge a nation but they're all from God and we can rest in the sovereignty of God in all of these things we can rest in the fact that God is still in charge and he is working out an eternal plan not just for my temporary safety not just for my temporary well-being but he's working out something eternal

through all of the world leaders right now again if you look at the book of Daniel it's fascinating to see the sovereignty of God at work remember the dreams and some of those things that were seen by different people by different leaders and then Daniel was able to interpret them remember how God laid out all of Gentile human history through Daniel he said first of all the Babylonians are in power that one was a no-brainer because the Babylonians were already in power he said but next is coming the Persians nobody knew anything about Persia nobody had any thoughts of Persia being who they were and yet God raised up a leader in Persia who by the way God called by name in the book of Isaiah hundreds of years before Babylon was even in power

God called by name the leader of Persia and said he will be my servant who will do all of my will and then he said after Persia is going to come Greece and then after Greece is going to come Rome and then after Rome falls apart it's going to end up becoming a ten nation confederation which we're still kind of waiting on right now but God called all of these things out why? because God is sovereign in the affairs of man and we can rest in that so the next time that you find yourself being angry about who our president is remind yourself that he's not he's there because God put him there listen I didn't make up the Bible I'm just telling you what it says the next time you're upset about about all these different things we need to instead of being upset

rest in God's sovereignty and then do what God has told us to do because what did God tell us to do in 2nd Timothy excuse me I believe it's 1st Timothy I would that men everywhere would lift up holy hands in prayer for kings and magistrates and all those in power you see if I'm resting in God's sovereignty it's a lot easier for me to be obedient to God's will and it's a lot easier for me to keep my eyes focused on Jesus and say you know what I don't understand what's going on but I know he's in charge and trust me I have to tell myself that multiple times a day right now it's okay I know that God's in charge and he's working out something even greater than I can imagine and so he says he brings the counsel of the nations to nothing

these are the things these leaders are merely men and they really have no control over anything God is ultimately the one in power sorry I got a little geeked up I gotta look at my notes make sure I'm saying the right thing here yep let's go on from there number four God's concern for us each individually God's concern for us each individually it's always amazing to me to be able to follow this train of thought because we're exhorted to praise because of who God is we're reminded of how powerful God is we're reminded that God is sovereign but in all of those things we're reminded of a great truth of God and that's that he the sovereign God the creator of the heavens and the earth who spoke it all into existence saw fit to pay attention

to each one of us individually notice what it says in verse 13 the Lord looks down from heaven he sees all the sons of men from the place of his dwelling he looks on all the inhabitants of the earth he fashions their hearts individually and he considers all their works several things I'd like for us to pay attention to in that little section notice what it says it says he looks down from heaven and he sees us that word see there literally means to see with one's own eyes to see with one's own eyes now that's kind of interesting to think about because that tells us that each of us individually God sees what's going on in your life because I know that for many of us we don't just stress about the things that are going on in our nation in our world

some of you are stressed about the things that are going on in your life individually things that perhaps nobody else knows about and you've not even been able to articulate to anybody just yet you just know that life is a little more difficult than you want it to be right now and you're having a hard time keeping your head above water some of you are having a hard time keeping calm and peace and God sees that God sees the financial issues that some of you are in God sees the stressful issues that some of you are in God sees that some of you don't have enough time in a day as a matter of fact 28 hours a day would not be enough to get done the things that you need to get done God sees all of those things God pays attention to all of those things

some of you don't sleep very well at night because you're worried about life and you're worried about things and God sees that God sees that you're not your rest is being encumbered because of all of the worry and the stress and the things that you have in your life some of you can't eat a normal meal because you're thinking about all of the things that are happening in life and some of you can't maintain a complete thought because of so much anxiety running through your minds God sees all of that do you know that? God is aware of it all we just finished up the first portion of the book of Exodus on Wednesday night and it's fascinating to me what God tells Moses when he calls Moses into ministry when he calls Moses to lead the children of Israel

because God tells Moses as the children of Israel were in slavery in Egypt God tells Moses he says I see their condition I hear their cries I know what they're going through and now I'm going to act on their behalf that progression of statements is made over and over and over again the first few chapters of the book of Exodus why? because God wants us to be well aware of the fact that he sees your condition he hears your cries and he is well aware of everything that's going on in your life I don't know about you but sometimes I have a hard time articulating how I feel on the inside I have a hard time putting into words when things are going on in my life at one point in time my wife used to tease me about this I looked to see if she was in here

she's not in here I can talk about her my wife used to tease me about this and she'd say what's going on I'd say well I'm really stressed out on the inside she's like is there a different place to be stressed out on the inside I'm stressed out I'm like I don't know that's the only words I know how to put it into I'm really stressed out on the inside right now I don't feel good on the inside right now because that was the only way I knew how to articulate what was happening because I couldn't put into words everything if I tried to I would just never quit talking talk really fast kind of like I do right now only I have a little bit more of a point anyway so all this stuff and you just go Lord I don't know oh but he sees you know what

scripture tells us when he sees those things that are going on in our lives it says that he is able to intercede for us with groanings that can't be uttered because he sees and he hears and he knows and he acts on our behalf and he begins to make intercession for us not only does he see us but take note of what it says that he does he says from the place of his dwelling he looks on all the inhabitants of the earth and then he looks on all the inhabitants and in verse 15 it says he fashions their hearts individually he fashions their hearts individually that word fashion is the same word that we're told in the creation of man remember when it says that God created man he said on that sixth day he said let's make man in our own image and so it says

he took the dust of the earth and he formed he fashioned man with it that word literally means to fashion as a potter would fashion clay now why is that important? because it denotes a hands on approach on the part of God that God everything else he spoke into existence but what did he do when he made you it says that he fashioned you with his own hands we're told later in the book of Psalms that he knit you together in your mother's womb that means that God is so involved in every aspect of your life and cares about every aspect of your life and God takes our hearts and does the exact same thing he fashions them into who he wants us to be that fashioning always begins with salvation I believe that God is at work in every single person's heart

right now whether they know him or not trying to fashion them into who he wants for them to be you know how I know that? because what happens when somebody gets saved? what are they able to look back and say that was God I didn't realize it at the time I didn't see it at the time but that was Jesus at work that means that even with people that don't know the Lord he is still intimately acquainted with their lives and he's involved in their lives so that when they get saved they look back and go that was God you know what I think the saddest thing in the world is going to be is when somebody goes to hell and they're going to be able to look back and say that was God and I said no my friend if that's you this morning if God has been trying to get

a hold of your heart if God has been trying to tell you that you need to give up your sin and start following him that you need to confess your sin and accept him as your savior don't put it off because God is currently trying to fashion your heart into one of his followers don't keep rejecting because hell is full of people who could say that was God and I said no but not only does God fashion our hearts to bring us to a place of salvation but he doesn't stop he continues to do his work that's why slowly but surely he's making you into who he wants you to be I've told you before and I'll keep telling you sometimes you just need to go over to Elk Falls, Kansas first of all it's like stepping back in time it's such a fascinating place to go to

but you go over there and there's a guy who has a shop there his name is Steve Fry no relation to Mark Fry even though the whole time I was growing up definitely thought they were related to each other no relation but he's an elder at the Calvary Chapel over in Elk Falls and he has a pottery business and it is so fascinating to go over and watch him work on that pottery he he

I love this because he starts off by telling us what not to put our hope in he says don't put your hope in a great army don't put your hope in strength and don't put your hope in a horse now I have not recently put my hope in a horse I guess that's not true when I was on a trail ride I kind of put some hope in a horse I was like I hope this horse doesn't fall down or doesn't drop me right but for the most part I haven't done any of those things so what does he mean he says you can't trust in you you can't trust in government and you can't trust in the things of the world those things can't be our trust our trust can't be in our jobs our trust can't be in our 401ks our trust can't be in your bank account your trust can't be in the things that you own

it can't be in any of those kinds of things why because they are no good in really helping you your trust can't be in self help your trust can't be in a psychologist your trust can't be in any of those things your trust can only be one place and that's in the Lord and if you're trusting in any of those things I promise you they're going to fall down and they're going to fail and so he goes on to tell us verse 18 behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him on those who hope in his mercy to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine he says behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him now that's another little phrase that kind of stuck out to me as I was reading this psalm I thought what does he mean

by the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him and so I looked it up and the idea is this the idea is a protective watchful eye let me give you a little illustration when we were in Colorado and we were going to climb the mountain there were three families with us and two of the families almost all of us went but one family they didn't want to go but their little boy wanted to go he's a year younger than Violet and so they said okay you can go but remember you're with these guys and you got to do what they tell you and so I could tell they were a little nervous I said don't worry I'll keep an eye on him and so everywhere he went I tried to make sure I kept an eye on him they got a little bit ahead of me and I said I've got to hurry up

and catch up with those guys because I told them I'd keep an eye on him I was not going to let anything happen to him because I told them I'll keep an eye on him and I'll make sure he's okay I'll make sure he's drinking enough water not getting sick all those kinds of things that's the same idea that's being carried with God saying with David here saying that God keeps a watchful eye on us the idea is that he is protecting us remember we're told in the book of 2 Peter that we are kept by the power of God through faith God is keeping his watchful eye on us in other words there's great protection in our relationship with the Lord and so we can trust in him you say Ryan if God's protecting me then why have these bad things happened to me in my life

because we have to understand that anything that comes into our life has first of all been filtered through the hands of a loving God and while he protects us the things he allows into our lives are always ultimately for our good and for his glory so protecting us doesn't always mean that he's going to make sure that nothing bad ever happens it means that when bad things do happen he has a plan and he has a plan and he's working in it and he'll do something great out of it because we're given a promise in the book of Romans he says that he works all things together for good to those who love him to those who are the called according to his purpose and so how does God protect us he protects us by turning every situation that happens into our lives

into something amazing and beautiful that we never even saw coming I'm reminded of Job I've shared this before but everything that Job went through you think how is that God protecting Job well at the end of the book of Job remember that Job was God protecting you remember what happens God tells Job gird up your loins like a man and answer some questions for me and gives him this whole long litany of questions and Job's never told why any of these things happen but at the very end of Job what does he say he says I've heard of you through the hearing of the ear but now my eye sees you you see the greatest protection for Job is that he would come to a place where he would know God in a way that he never knew him before because though he had

heard about God through the hearing of the ear though he had heard all about those things that had taken place that God had done with all of the things in the world now he could say not only have I heard about it but I've seen it and now I know God better than I ever have before God keeps his watchful eye on us he goes on to say that he delivers their soul from death and keeps them alive in famine as I was thinking about that phrase that he keeps them alive in famine I was reminded of Elijah remember there's a story about Elijah that goes like this Elijah was upset with Ahab because God was upset with Ahab Ahab and Jezebel were truly the probably worst combination that had happened to the nation of Israel and Elijah was constantly calling them out

in the name of the Lord and so part of his calling them out is he declared it's not going to rain for the next three years and so there was a huge drought in the land and there was famine if you will there was a supply shortage and no one had anything to eat and so Elijah God led him to this widow and he asked this widow he said hey what do you have in here to eat she said I've got enough to make one last cake I'm going to make that for me and my son and then we're going to die and he said wait do me a favor give me a little bit of faith right now make a cake for me and then I promise there's always going to be enough left over so she made a cake for Elijah a little loaf of bread if you will and then there was enough oil and flour left

for the duration of the rest of the famine in other words she never went hungry how on earth did that happen she's not a dumb woman she knew that there was only enough to make one more loaf of bread so where on earth did the rest of the flour and oil come from God keeps us alive in famine you may be saying how am I going to provide for all of the needs if there's nothing there well how did she do it well because God provided for her because that's what God does how did the children of Israel have anything to eat in the wilderness well God dropped bread on them every single morning now I'm not saying you're always going to have everything that you want because in our culture right now there's a really big difference between want and need

but I do promise you this because the Bible promises this that my God shall supply all of your need according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus that's not just me blowing smoke up your dress that is the absolute honest truth that's what God says he's going to do and so we can trust that God's going to keep us alive in famine notice what he says in verse 20 our soul waits for the Lord for he is our help and our shield for our heart shall rejoice in him because we have trusted in his holy name our soul waits for the Lord oh waiting's not what we're good at we talked about this a lot on Wednesday night about how important waiting on the Lord is and if we're going to trust in the Lord it's going to involve waiting on the Lord

because in the will of God you have nothing but time in the will of God he takes care of everything in his time one of my favorite verses is out of the book of Ecclesiastes it says he makes all things beautiful in his time so as we trust in the Lord it means that we wait on the Lord I'm reminded of that verse out of the book of Isaiah it says they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings like eagles they'll run and not be weary they'll walk and not faint and that reminds me of of a new worship song that I heard that is exactly what I'm talking about by just throwing a few words together and just singing them to the Lord it's by the band Leland Leland has a live album and on the live album is what they call

a spontaneous worship song and it's a song that's called and it goes like this come on let's wait upon the Lord and he will renew our strength that's all it says that's the whole song I'm like I could have written that in 30 seconds right but it's amazing it's on my running playlist probably not a song that makes a lot of people's running playlists but it made mine because it's a song that swells and as it grows he just keeps singing the same thing over and over again and I'm here to tell you right now by the time you're done listening to four minutes of come on let's wait upon the Lord and he will renew our strength your soul is revived I don't know why because it's just true because it's quoting scripture and as we as our soul waits on the Lord

and as we wait and trust in him he not only renews our strength to do so but we see him provide in the way that he promises why? verse 22 just as we hope in you because he's our place of hope God delivers those who trust in him because he's the only place where there's really hope right now our world is crying out for hope and it's found one place and one place only and that's in Jesus amen let's all stand my hope and my prayer is that this was not just a message for me if it was I hope you enjoyed it because there it is but my hope is that as some of you I feel like probably are in similar places that you're ministered to and you understand that you can find your hope in the Lord I want to encourage you that if that's you this morning

if you can relate to that if you can say you know what I'm one of those people that I'm really battling with being distracted by the things of the world I'm really distracted with all of the things that are going on in life and I need to reset my perspective on the Lord I'm going to be down front and I'd like to ask the elders to be down front with me and we're just going to be praying for those that need to come forward to be prayed for because I think that there's a lot of us right now listen we're about to come into another heavy time in life I really feel like and we need to do so with our eyes firmly planted on Jesus Christ the author and the finisher of our faith because if that's not where our focus is then the things that I feel like

we're probably going to be facing in the next few months they're going to begin to overwhelm us because no matter what happens if our eyes are on him everything else is going to be taken care of amen so I'll be down front while these guys are singing this song Lord we come before you just thank you for this time pray that you would just bless bless this congregation as we go out from here and may we just continue to draw close to you in Jesus name amen be blessed in the morning when I rise in the morning when I rise in the morning when I rise in the morning when I rise in the morning when I rise in the morning when I rise in the morning when I rise in the morning when I rise in the morning when I rise in the morning when I rise in the morning

when I rise in the morning when I rise in the morning when I rise in the morning when I rise in the morning when I rise in the morning when I rise in the morning when I rise in the morning when I rise time give me g give me father we just thank you now as people are coming down for prayer just move by your holy spirit father we thank you that we can trust you in all things and we give you praise and so we'll just stop hearing this the praying is going on lord just bless us in jesus name amen