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So. Well, today we're going to be hanging out in Psalm 138. Uh so, if you want to pull out your Bibles and get ready, I'm going to give you a little bit of history here uh on Psalm 138. So, it's basically it's a hymn of individual praise and thanksgiving, you know, historically attributed to King David. Declaration of gratitude for God's personal deliverance, protection, and faithfulness. So, if you remember, it's believed that uh David authored seven about 73 Psalms in total of all the Psalms. Psalm 138 uh marks the beginning of the final little cluster of uh Davidic Psalms. That was like 138 to 145 before the Book of Psalms concludes with some other corporate praises. Uh and it, you know, 138 stands in heavy contrast to 137, you know, where the uh exiled Israelites were crying by the rivers of Babylon but refused to sing the Lord's song and praise, you know, in a foreign land. Uh but Psalm 138 acts as a staunch courageous reminder that we as God's people uh can and should boldly sing praises, you know, no matter how hostile the surrounding surrounding culture might be. So, if you're able to stand, uh we're going to read through Psalm 138. It's uh eight short verses, but uh uh, packs a lot of punch, so. Let's read Psalm 138 of David. I will praise you, oh Lord, with all my heart before the gods I will sing your praise. I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. When I called, you answered me. You made me bold and stouthearted. May all the kings of the earth praise you, oh Lord, when they hear the words of your mouth. May they sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great. Though the Lord is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes. With your right hand you save me. You, Lord, will fulfill his purpose for me. Your love, oh Lord, endures forever. Do not abandon the works of your hands. This is the word of the Lord. You can be seated. So, today we're looking, uh, 138 here. And the title of the message is God has a purpose. What is yours? So, a little more context here. Most biblical scholars believe David composed, uh, this Psalm in direct response to God establishing, you know, the Davidic covenant, which was, uh, displayed in 2 Samuel 7:1-17. Now, I'm sure you're all sitting there thinking, what is the Davidic covenant, right? I'm I know there's people in the room who know what it is, but in the pa- in that passage in 2 Samuel, King David expresses his desire to build a permanent temple for God. Noting that he lives in a cedar palace while the ark of God still resides in a tent. Well, now I don't know if you remember, but Nathan the prophet who kind of hung out with David, you know, he supported originally the idea of building a temple. However, the Lord uh speaks to Nathan that night and directing him to tell David that God does not dwell in a house, but has moved with the Israelites in a tent. So, God reminds David that he raised him from a shepherd to be a ruler, gave him victory over his enemies, and promises to make David's name great. Furthermore, God promises to establish a house, meaning a dynasty, you know, for David stating that David's descendant will build a house for God's name, and that his kingdom and throne will be established forever. So, God pledges to maintain his love for David's line even when punishing them, ensuring the kingdom endures. So, Nathan then reports this message to David, and overwhelmed that God promised to establish his royal lineage forever, David responded with intense personal devotion, which is basically Psalm 138. So, our first point we're going to talk about is an attitude of gratitude. All right? So, David had an attitude of gratitude. One One the reasons I chose, you know, this particular Psalm is because it complement Psalm 56 that I preached on a few weeks ago. You know, in that Psalm, basically we learned that David started praising God's promises when he was still trapped by his enemies. Remember that? David praised God before the breakthrough. However, we also made it a point to call out that for us, we normally wait, you know, until the problem's totally solved before we say thank you, right? Well, in Psalm 138, most of David's current problems are totally solved. King Saul is out of the way and David has been appointed king. So, what is David's reaction? Verses 1 to 2 say, "I will praise you, oh Lord, with all my heart before the gods. I will sing your praise. I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word." Now, something worth noting here is that uh David opens by stating that he will sing praises before the gods. And just to clarify, in the In the ancient Near East, neighboring, as you know, neighboring pagan nations worship gods like Baal. But by declaring this, David was asserting that God's supreme authority uh it was over the pagan rulers and the idols of the nations he was able to defeat. Uh so, he wasn't uh he wasn't singing praises to the gods of the other nations. He was singing praises before the gods and basically uh because of God's uh accomplishment. So, what are some other points that David that support David's attitude of gratitude in this song? Well, we're going to look at a couple of them. First of all, gratitude is a choice, not a feeling. You know, David begins with the words, "I will praise." You know, David does not wait until his emotions align or his circumstances clear up. You know, true biblical gratitude is an intentional discipline of the mind that chooses to focus on who God is, regardless of your current emotional state. The next one is that gratitude requires a whole heart. And again, [clears throat] in verse one, David specifies he will praise God with his whole heart. So, half-hearted gratitude is often conditional, you know, lasting only as long as things go well. So, Jane and I were discussing the subject of gratitude uh when we were when I was talking about this, you know, putting the sermon together, and she recalled a quote that she once heard by Joyce Meyer. Joyce Meyer said that gratitude is the shortest-living emotion. Well, Jane and I challenged that thought somewhat, and after some research, discovered that gratitude is indeed more than a fleeting emotion. You know, whole-hearted gratitude implies that David has searched his life and gathered up every last bit of his attention to focus entirely on God's goodness, leaving no room for grumbling or idolatry. So, the next point is that gratitude is fueled by spiritual strength, not circumstantial simplicity. big words there. So, when in verse three, when David cried out, you know, God did not immediately vaporize his enemies. Instead, the Psalm says, "God boldly emboldened me with strength in my soul." So, David's thankfulness stems from internal strengthening. He is grateful because God changed him from the inside out, giving him the stamina to face the battle. That's a huge point. The next one, gratitude is kept alive by remembering God's track record. And that uses verses two and seven. David anchors his praise in God's Uh-oh, we're going to geek out here. In honor of Anthony, we're going to do some Hebrew. All right? So, David anchors his praise in God's hesed and emet. So, hesed means unfailing love, and emet means faithfulness. So, David anchors his praise in God's unfailing love and faithfulness. An attitude of gratitude cannot survive in a vacuum. You know, it requires a memory. And David accurately recalls how God delivered him in the past, allowing him to state with absolute certainty in verse seven, "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life." So, the next point is that gratitude rests in the certainty of the finish line. Verse eight. >> [clears throat] >> The ultimate support for David's gratitude is his theological certainty about the future. It says, "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me." David is thankful not because he is in control of his destiny, but because he knows the master potter refuses to abandon the work of his hands. Gratitude flourishes when you realize your future is securely held in some by somebody else. So, showing God an attitude of gratitude doesn't require big fancy actions on our behalf. You know, based on King David's example in Psalm 138, comes down to a few small intentional shifts in how we live our daily lives. So, let's look at a few practical ways to show God you are thankful. First one is, say thank you first thing in the morning. Pretty practical, right? Here's how it works. You know, don't wait for something good to happen to be grateful. Start your day by thanking God for who he is before you even look at your phone. So, an example is, when your alarm goes off, say, "Thank you, God, for another day of life, and thank you that your love for me never changes." Number two, practice wholehearted talking. How it works. David said he would praise God with his whole heart. Well, this means giving God your full attention instead of just going through the motions. For example, take 2 minutes in any given day to sit in a quiet room with no distractions. Good luck, parents with young children, right? This kind of reminded me of the movie War Room. Does anybody remember seeing that movie with the little old lady who had the uh the prayer closet? Was that what it was? She'd go in there and go to battle through prayer. So, tell God exactly what you are thankful for. You know, naming specific small details like a good meal, a warm bed, or a helpful friend. Number three, talk about his goodness to others. How it works. You know, David wanted the kings of the earth to hear about God. When we tell other people how God has helped us, it shows God we aren't taking his blessings for granted. So, for example, the next time someone asks you, "How are you doing?" instead of just saying, "Fine." How many times do you get that? Right? When you ask somebody how they're doing, "Fine." Shanti, how are you doing today? Yeah. Yeah, right? And hey, I mean, we reciprocate the same way how many times, right? Depending on who is asking, depends how much time we want to give them, right? So, but um you know, share you know, instead of saying you know, a one-word answer, share a small win. You know, you could say, "Things have been stressful, but I'm thankful God gave me strength to get through this week." You know, that might change the attitude of the person that you're talking to because it could give off a signal to them that says, "Huh, he used God he used God in a sentence to me, you know, uh it's very good chance that he's somebody that I could talk to or she's somebody that I could talk to if I really need to uh to vent some stuff or need some help." So, number four is stay thankful when things get tough. You know, we talked about this in my last message a little bit, how it works. You know, it's easy to be thankful when life is perfect, right? Showing gratitude during a storm, though, proves you trust God's bigger plan. So, an example, when a problem pops up today, pause before you react and say, "God, this situation is frustrating, but thank you that you're right here with me in the midst of it. So, number five then, trust him to finish his project. This is how it works. The The ultimate way to show gratitude is to stop worrying. Mhm. When you trust that God will fulfill his purpose for you in Psalm 138:8, your peace becomes an act of worship. So, here's an example. When you feel overwhelmed about the future, open your hands, take a deep breath, and say, "Thank you, Jesus, that my future is in your hands, and you are not done with me yet." So, we're going to stay in verse eight here for a little while because verse eight brings us to our next topic. And that is God's purpose and our purpose. So, God's purpose for us is pretty simple. You know, Psalm 138:8 states that God's purpose for us is to completely fulfill and perfect perfect his specific plan for our lives. So, let's just read it again. It says, "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. Your steadfast love, oh Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the works of your hand." So, our purpose in response is pretty much equally as simple. You know, it's to actively trust his faithfulness, surrender control, mhm, and offer a wholehearted praise. Now, it would be nice to say that that's the end of this topic, um and move on, but we're going to drill into this this a little bit further because as simple as it is, we're not simple people. We like to complicate things, right? Now, I think I know some simple people, but that's a different point. So let's look at God's purpose for us. So God's active purposes a believer's in a believer's life. So the first one is divine completion. So here we go little more Hebrew for you. The Hebrew root root word for a fulfill is Gamar. And it means to bring to an end. Complete or perfect. So God does not leave his projects half finished. Do you believe that? He promises to bring his plans for you to full fruition. And then the next one is personal vision. You know his purpose is uniquely tailored to you. I mean God's purpose for me is completely different than God's purpose for Jeff or to Steve or anybody else in this room. You know his purpose for each one of us is is uniquely tailored to to us. Sorry. The NASB New American Standard Bible translated as the Lord will accomplish what concerns me. Proving that no detail of your life is too small for his attention. And then eternal preservation. His purpose is secured by his steadfast love. Another Hebrew here chesed. Steadfast love meaning his commitment to developing you is motivated by unbreakable covenant love. Not temporary performance. So you know his love for you is and his purpose for you you know it's not just a fleeting thing. You know it's it's everlasting. It's eternal. So So then our purpose in response is number one, uh you know, when we understand that God's committed to completing his work in us, you know, our res- our responsive uh purpose shifts from striving to trusting. Yeah, and that's where faith comes in. So, surrender control. Who likes to do that? I don't know. I don't see any hands. Okay. Yeah. Surrender control. Realize that you do not have to force open doors, carry pressure of working out your own destiny. All right? Your role is to cooperate [clears throat] with his molding hands. Does that make [clears throat] sense? Yeah. Okay. Offer confident prayers. You know, follow the model at the end of verse 8 by praying, "Do not forsake the work of your hands." This is an act of worship mixed with faith, asking God to keep changing you while acknowledging that you belong to him. And this was divine intervention. I promise you this was not collaborated. But, one of the songs Kayla uses in worship is Canvas and Clay. Anybody familiar with that song? We sang it this morning. So, some of the lyrics say, you remember, "You're an artist and a potter. I'm the canvas and the clay. You make all things work together for my future and for my good. You make all things work together for your glory and for your name." Right? So, offer confident prayers. And then live in wholehearted praise. You know, in the broader context of uh Psalm 138:1-3, David responds to God's faithfulness with bold public gratitude. You are ultimate purpose is to reflect his glory through a lifestyle of Thanksgiving. So, there's a story from a renowned Bible teacher that deals directly with the raw kind of practical reality of Psalm 138 verse 8. Does anybody recognize the name uh Charles Spurgeon? Yeah. If Anthony was here, he'd be geeking out again like, "Oh, oh yeah. You know, he's He's one of my favorites." He has about 20 of them, right? But uh anyway, I'm poor guy. I'm picking on him this morning and he's not here to defend himself. But Spurgeon was a renowned 19th century British Baptist preacher known as the prince of preachers. So, Charles used this Psalm, you know, at a time when he felt completely unqualified, broken, and fearful that he ruined or couldn't handle God's plan for him. So, this is the the story of Charles Spurgeon's battle with what he said was unfit panic. Uh Charles Spurgeon is, you know, is highly uh celebrated today, but as a young man, he was plagued by intense feelings of inadequacy and depression. Anybody relate? When he was just a teenager, he was thrust into preaching to thousands of people in London as a teenager. He felt like a total fraud, assuming he was too young, too uneducated, and too broken to fulfill the massive calling God had placed on him. He genuinely believed genuinely believed he would crash and burn and ruin the ministry. But in his famous sermon on Psalm 138:8, Spurgeon shared how this exact verse rescued him from mental paralysis. He realized that the verse did not say, "Charles will perfect that's what that which concerns Charles." It said, "The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me." So, Spurgeon wrote a personal reflection that you know, perfectly captures the relief the relief of his promise and I quote, "God knows the force of your evil nature, the force of that obstinate self-love, the force of that imperious pride, the force of that dogged will. He knows all this. Nor can anything take him by surprise and therefore, since he has begun to save you, rest assured that he will accomplish his design." So, what's the takeaway there? Spurgeon realized God knew exactly how flawed he was before he called him. You know, his mess couldn't surprise God or derail the plan. So, to recognize and live out God's purpose, you must shift from trying to predict the distant future to walking faithfully in the present. God rarely reveals the complete plan. Instead, he provides a lamp for your next immediate step. So, going to move on to the next point. Be safe. Be saved. Uh, that might sound a little scary to some, right? But, I'm going to work through some things that Anthony's kind of been uh, ref- reflecting on, you know, in some of his messages. But, I want to ask, you know, uh how does Psalm 130 relate to Jesus as our personal savior? You know, Psalm 138 offers a powerful prophetic blueprint of Jesus Christ as our personal savior. You know, while King David wrote it from his own experience, the New Testament reveals that Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the themes we find in this Psalm. So, we're going to look at some of these. So, the first one is Jesus is God's word exalted. So, the living word in verse two declares, "You have exalted above all things your name and your word." Well, the fulfillment of this was John 1:1 that reveals that Jesus is the ultimate word made flesh. When we look at Jesus, we see God's promises perfectly fulfilled, making Jesus the tangible embodiment of God's exalted word. So, number two, Jesus personifies uh-huh, hesed and emet, remember? Covenant love and truth. So, the divine attributes. David's David praises God for his hesed, his unfailing covenant love, and emet, you know, his faithfulness and truth. And the fulfillment in John 1:14 states that Jesus came to us full of grace, hesed, and truth, emet. Jesus is not a messenger of God's love, you know, as a personal savior, he is that love and truth, you know, walking among us. So, number three, Jesus became lowly to save the lowly. Again, the divine paradox, verse six says, "Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly." And the fulfillment is that Jesus perfectly molded this or modeled this. You know, he left his exalted heavenly throne, humbled himself to become human, and spent his earthly ministry with the broken, the outcasts, you know, and the poor. And that was recorded in Philippians 2:5-8. So, he is a personal savior who relates to our weaknesses. So, Jesus delivers us through the midst of trouble. You know, the promise of revival, verse seven says, "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life." And the fulfillment, you know, as our savior, Jesus does not promise an easy life. But, he promises his personal presence in the trouble. You know, through his death and resurrection, he conquered the ultimate trouble, sin and death, ensuring our final preservation and eternal life. So, the last one there, >> [clears throat] >> Jesus fulfills God's purpose for you. Again, the finished work. The psalm ends with absolute confidence. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. Do not abandon the works of your hands. And the fulfillment, Jesus is the ultimate guarantee of this promise. You know, on the cross, he cried out, "It is finished." You know, in John 19:30, it was recorded. And then Philippians 1:6 echoes Psalm 138 directly, promising that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. So then, how does Psalm 130 relate, you know, to us or individuals asking Jesus to be their personal savior? You know, for someone taking the deeply personal step of asking Jesus to be their savior, or often called, you know, some people say the sinner's prayer, or entering into a saving relationship with God, you know, again, Psalm 138 acts as a perfect spiritual map. It mirrors the exact heart posture, confession, and immediate reality of a person accepting salvation. So, let's look at a couple of these points. So, the posture of total humility. So, the psalm says, "Though [clears throat] the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly." Remember verse six. Well, the relationship is that asking Jesus to be your savior requires admitting your own spiritual bankruptcy and need for help. God resists pride, but pours out saving grace the moment a person humbles themselves and acknowledges Jesus' lordship. Now, granted, these are steps, you know, uh for people that are asking Jesus to be their savior. But then, if you've already done that, then these are just simple reminders, you know of what you signed up for here. So the second one, giving up other gods. The Psalm I says you know I will praise uh I will sing your praise before the gods remember in verse one. Well salvation is an act of repentance. You know when an individual turns to Jesus they are declaring before the gods you know the fist that and in this case uh before the gods are the false idols of their past like uh self-reliance or money or pleasure or approval. You know So we're declaring that Jesus alone is now our ultimate authority and savior. So calling out and receiving an immediate answer. Well the Psalm says when I called you answered me. You greatly emboldened me in verse three. One response Romans 10:13 promises that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So Psalm 138 captures that exact moment of salvation. The instant an individual cries out to Jesus in faith. He hears, answers, forgives, and infuses their soul with new spiritual life and strength. So moving from judgment to protection. You know verse seven says you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes. Your right hand saves me. Our ultimate spiritual enemies you know our sin, death, and separation from God. You know, when a person asks Jesus to save them, he figuratively stretches out his hand to take the judgment they deserve, pulling them safely out of danger, and placing them into an eternal security. So, then the last point, eternal security and the finished work. You know, the Psalm says in verse 8 again, "The Lord will fulfill his promise for me. Your love, Lord, endures forever. Do not abandon the works of your hands." Well, the relationship, you know, is that a new believer can have absolute confidence that salvation is not a temporary trial period. You know, by asking Jesus into their life, you know, they become the work of his hands. Jesus promises to personally guard, mold, and complete that person's spiritual journey all the way into eternity. So, there's a uh Wait, we are going to get out of here early today. Um you know, I just want to speak a little uh candidly to you. So, uh Kayla, you know, if you and the team want to come back up. Uh I just want to say a couple words. So, you know, um and this this part of this message anyone in um but there's, you know, a certain reality that exists when anyone stands up here and and shares a message. You never know as you stand up here and scan the crowd whether you're talking to believers or not. I like to think that I do know uh based on most of you that I know in this room, but I don't know all of you deeply and personally. So, I really don't know. You know, and you really just don't know uh you know, what stage people are at in their lives. You know, of course the word is the word and it pertains to everyone, but in my opinion you know, it requires a commitment uh for there to be a true connection. You know, a few weeks ago I was at a funeral for a cousin of mine uh that passed away. Uh once again, it proves you know, the harsh reality that life is short. And in some cases, I know as you know, from my family perspective growing up uh in some cases, it's way too short. You know, so if you're not a follower of Jesus and if you've not invited Jesus to be your personal savior, let today be the day. And if not you, if somebody you know, you know can you share this with them? You know, tomorrow is not a guarantee. You know, at the funeral I was asked to share some stories and memories of my time with my cousin. And one of the themes that I continued to come back to was the grace that he showed me during you know, an influential time in my life. I mean, he basically had started a landscape business and so when I turned 14, I worked with him that summer. So, from 14 to 18, you know, I spent my summers working with him. And of course, we were relatives so we spent other time together. But you know, he wasn't afraid to call me out you know, when something you know, I said something stupid or did something stupid. You know, and he kept me accountable and you know, I but he always gave me grace, you know. He never slammed the door in my face and that was one of the things I remembered. And you know, so I just want to say that I'm sure that if we all took a look back on our lives, whether young or old, you can probably remember somebody that offered grace to you at some point in your life. But really, there's only one person's grace that we should be worried about, and that's Jesus. You know, salvation is free. Jesus already paid the price. It's yours for the asking. You know, but you do have to ask. So, there might be somebody in the room today or somebody that you know that thinks that after all the bad stuff that they've done in their life, there's no way that God could love them. Or that you've turned your back on God for so long and he would never want you back. Or that maybe you've put so much distance between you and God, you know, that there's no way that he could ever find you. Can I just tell you that those are all lies? And that all you have to do is turn to God and cry out, and he will meet you where you are right now. No questions asked. Arms wide open. So, there's a contemporary Christian band called Cain, and they have a song out called Anymore, two words, anymore. And the lyrics to the chorus go like this, I couldn't love you anymore than I do right now. There's nowhere I wouldn't go to get to you, my child. Take a look at the cross, then you'll know it for sure. I couldn't love you. I couldn't love you anymore. So, if you haven't already or if you're not sure, don't let time run out on your chance to ask Jesus to be your savior and become his follower. During the last song, members of the prayer team will be available in the back of the room. Go and pray with them. Or maybe you've been saved and you're feeling in a rut. Uh have you been water baptized? You want a spiritual jump start? I would encourage doing that. So, I know some of you may have heard this story, but Jane and I were both baptized in the Lutheran church as infants. Um we were born a month and a day apart. Our parents were the best of friends. We went to the same church. Um so we were you know, baptized together on the same day in the same church. Well, it was not a church yet. It was the gymnasium at the time. But we were also then confirmed in the Lutheran church, which basically meant that we affirmed our baptisms and took responsibility for our faith at that point. You know, and that was like eighth or ninth grade. You know, but flash forward 40 years later and we found ourselves in a season you know, of life where relationship with Jesus became a whole lot more personal. And so we felt it only right that we rededicate our lives to him. So, as adults we were water baptized again, together, on the same day, in the same pool, and a lot of you were there actually to witness that. So I would just say that um you know, whether you were baptized as an infant or even confirmed or whatever, I don't I'm not saying that those acts of worship are not valid. You know, but uh maybe you could feel a deeper spiritual purpose or connection you know, if you rededicated your life to Jesus through water baptism. You know, fortunately we are doing a water baptism in a couple weeks. So, I don't know you know, what the up front prepa- preparations are uh that need to be done if you're interested in doing that. But I would reach out to Pastor Anthony. So, again, be safe and be saved. So, can we stand? I wanted to just uh pray for us. The Lord, thank you so much for bringing us all together today. We want to go out with hearts full of gratitude, thanking you for your blessings, your goodness, and the ways you are working in our lives. We hold on to your promise that you will finish the good work you started in us. Your love never quits, and we are so grateful that you never give up on us. We want to thank you especially for Jesus, our personal savior. Thank you, Jesus, for saving us, for giving our mistakes, and inviting us into real, daily relationship with you. Our lives are completely safe in your hands. And as we jump back into our normal routines, help us to actively engage with the Holy Spirit this week. Tune our hearts to listen to your promptings, and give us the courage to follow your guidance in our daily choices. Help us to live out our faith and share your love and hope with people around us. Please watch over everyone here. Keep our families safe, and help us stay close to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. >> I love you, Lord. Oh, your mercy never fails me all my days. I've held >> [singing] >> in your >> [music] >> from the moment that I wake up.

This transcript is AI-generated, there are likely some errors.

bring up the darkness line presentation that'd be awesome. So, we're Well, a couple things. First of all, I guess uh uh the word must got out. I was preaching this morning and you know, I got to appreciate you guys coming anyway. Thank you. And uh you know, so if you want me to do a quick sales pitch on ecological fibers. So, the Bible that I have in my hand here, the cover material on this Bible is manufactured by our facility in China and it's manufactured in China as well brought over here which is most Bibles and journals and things are nowadays because all the fancy stuff they do on them that we can't do over here. Uh so, yeah, that's my pitch. If you're buying Bibles and journals, thank you. Because if you have this type of material on your Bible, came from us most likely. So. Okay. So, we're going to continue our series. We're going to keep things going as Anthony has already laid out for us this summer. And we're spending the summer in the Psalms. So, uh if you want to stand with me, we're going to actually spend time today in Psalm 56. So, if you have your Bible and you want to flip it open to that or your Bible app on your phone or if you need a Bible, there's Bibles on a table in the back there. And uh we're going to read uh Psalm 56. So, basically just a little um preamble here. There are 150 Psalms you know, in the book of Psalms and it's believed that David authored about 73 of those Psalms in total. And then eight of those 73 Psalms were written while David was living as a fugitive. And these eight particular Psalms, sometimes also referred to as as poems, continue to give the abundant testimony to the vicious realities of a fallen world. You know, and still, when God is on our side, we can find refuge in the midst of any storm. So, let's read Psalm 56. Be merciful to me, oh God, for men hotly pursue me. All day long they press their attack. My slanders pursue me all day long. Many are attacking me in their pride. When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust, I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? All day long they twist my words. They are always plotting to harm me. They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps eager to take my life. On no account let them escape. In your anger, oh God, bring down the nations. Record my lament. List my tears on your scroll. Are they not in your record? Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? I am under vows to you, oh God. I will present my thank offerings to you. For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life. You can be seated. So, yep, I'm going to have to go back one. The title of this sermon this morning is called Faith in the midst of fear. And uh I'm going to put my hat on here for a minute. So, uh uh I have a I had a chuckle the other evening. We had a uh men's group event at uh Dave's place and uh you know, as we were all coming together and everything, I was wearing my my navy hat and Ed pulled up and he uh was came up and he's puffing his chest out. He's like, "Oh, I see we're going to have a problem tonight." I was like, "What do you mean?" And I looked and well, he had his Air Force hat on, right? I'm like, "Oh, okay. Here we go." Right? So, in context now, in true Air Force fashion, Ed, I think, had the most comfortable chair there, okay? And I'm pretty sure when he was getting it out of his car, I saw a pillow and a blanky fall out. That, you know, just in case he needed a nap, you know, while we were we're we were doing all this, but anyway, it was all good. We we did not we did not have any uh any problems. So, um but I did want to share a story with you. And uh there she is. This is the mighty Mount Whitney, LCC 20, the amphibious command ship. And you know, as most of you know or probably figured it out by now, I spent about uh you know, I served in the Navy for about 6 years. And while I was on active duty, uh I was assigned to the staff of the commander of the Second Fleet. And the Mount Whitney was the flagship for the Second Fleet. So, I was stationed on board the Mount Whitney. And uh as you can see in this picture, she was a beautiful ship, very clean, pretty much spotless, you know, because the admiral of the Second Fleet, you know, this was uh uh his home while we were uh not in port, and so um you know, we hosted you know, a nice uh flat deck there on the top, and it's about a quarter mile around there, actually. Uh you know, believe it or not. And um on the back, between the superstructure and the antenna they'd put up big canopy, and we'd host dignitaries and parties and things like that. So, uh yeah, it was um uh It it The picture pretty much shows, you know, her how she was when I was on board. I saw some recent pictures, and there's been some pretty dramatic changes in uh in some of the antennas and stuff like that. But, uh so the Second Fleet basically covers uh North the North Atlantic Ocean uh and the Arctic region, you know, territory extends basically from the US East Coast to the western shores of Europe. Right? So, uh for me, being on the Second Second Fleet really had its perks. Uh for instance, the admiral of the Second Fleet and another admiral uh they owned property in St. Thomas. So, um needless to say, we spent most of our winter months cruising around in the Caribbean. Tough duty, I know. But, uh and so, another thing with being on the staff, when we were in port away from our home port, Norfolk, uh my job was covered by a duty watch station, so I didn't have to work. So, anytime we'd pull in the port, I was free to go and roam. Now, didn't always do that. I was a nice guy. Even back then, I would help and uh you know, cover other people's watches, so they could go and and enjoy a little bit of time while we were in port, as well. But, um in the late summer and fall, you know, we'd typically do like a 3-month cruise to the North Atlantic and Europe, you know, where our territory and our uh where we covered. And so, the first year um that we made that cruise, that I was, you know, on board when we made that cruise, when we were coming home across the North Atlantic, uh we really hit some nasty storms, uh some very very rough seas. And uh you know, it was pretty scary for me. I'm not going to lie. I mean, uh you know, I wasn't sitting at a desk like Ed probably was in the in the Air Force. Yeah, I was No, I'm just kidding. Worry, I told him I was going to pick on you a little bit, right? So, uh you know, then it happened. Uh here we are, we're cruising, and if you I know this little pointer doesn't work, unfortunately, on the little screen there, Plumber. But anyway, if you can see on the side of the boat where like that little sponson comes down, like that addition on the just below the main deck where the little uh lifeboats and stuff were back there, well, where that uh where that sponson, that's called a sponson, came and was welded to the hull of the ship, uh about halfway down there, uh we had a fracture in the seam of the hull, and it ripped uh a big seam a big a tear in the hull where it was connected. And of course, you know, we started taking on water, and of all places, the water was coming in, you know, the staff's birthing compartment. Of all places, right? Couldn't get more luckier than that. But uh yeah, I mean, uh it was a it was >> [laughter] >> uh I'm not going to say, you know, I was thinking the worst, obviously. You know, I'm thinking like full Titanic here, like we're going down kind of kind of thing. And although this was in 1985 when this happened in the movie Titanic didn't actually come out till 1997. Uh yeah, I was I must have had uh thoughts ahead. But anyway, you know, how much worse could it get, right? You got a rip in the hole, it's you know, filling out part of the the staff birthing compartment. And you know, what if this you know, my mind is like, what if this becomes like a major issue? You know, how much you know, could the boat actually flood? You know, is it going to be enough to take the ship down? I mean, it was you know, you're you you know, it's not like that happened and the and the weather went away. I mean, you're still in it. And it was nasty. And so, uh I started uh doing some pretty major praying. And you know, the those weather conditions lasted for about 24 hours. And then at that point we were pretty much in the clear because, you know, the waves were now hitting lower than uh the tear in the ship. And uh you know, and the seas were calming down pretty considerably. So, you know, it normally took about 7 days for us to get from uh Plymouth, England uh back to Norfolk, Virginia. And we were probably about two to two or three days out from Norfolk yet when all this when all this happened. And so, that for me was probably the scariest moment I faced while I was in the Navy. And uh I definitely found myself calling out to God. And then so, today we're going to learn about one of the times in this life that that David was crying out to God. All right? So, um take my hat back off here. That's my Navy story for you. But fun stuff on that boat. Um and she had to go into dry dock when we got back to to Norfolk, obviously. But, we're going to I want to give a little bit of more context to uh the the Psalms here uh before we get into some of the major points. Um, as I mentioned earlier, you know, eight Psalms were written by David while he was a fugitive, while he basically was running from King Saul. And 1 Samuel 21:10-25 basically describes the story that David is referring to in Psalm 56. You know, so David is fleeing from King Saul and in a desperate moment decides to head to Gath. Anybody know who lived in Gath? Or who came from Gath? Yeah, of course. Gath was a hometown of Goliath, right? So, he's not a stranger there and David quickly finds himself held captive by the Philistines. So, fearing King Achish of Gath, I made up that pronunciation of that name, but uh and knowing his danger there, David tries faking insanity to escape. So, David alters his behavior uh to appear insane and he starts, you know, scratching on the doors and drooling in his beard and ultimately his plan works. Uh and the king was like, "Get this guy out of here, you know?" And he was able to escape to the cave of Adullam. So, in Psalm 56 then, David prays for rescue from the constant threat of his enemies. Despite this, he resolves to respond with trust in the Lord. David asked rhetorically, you know, what possible dangers could earthly men be compared to the power of God in verses 1 to 4. David's enemies act with hate and malice. You know, he says, "My enemies make trouble for me all day long. They are always thinking of ways to hurt me." He says, "You know how troubled I am. You have a record of my tears. Be merciful to me, oh God, because I am under attack." David is in a bad way. Yet, he continues to have hope. So, we're going to break down some of the realities that David shares in the text in Psalm 56 and see how they might be relative to us right now. So, point number one, you don't have to fake being fearless. All right? So, some of these points I broke down into three little sections and the first section I'm just calling it the real-life view. All right? The real-life view of this is that David was genuinely terrified. And he didn't pretend otherwise. Made it very clear. But for us, following Jesus doesn't mean you never get anxious about bills, financial stress, health crisis, and health test results, and your and even your future. And the list goes on and on, right? Now, you know that I've talked a lot about in the past uh the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives as believers and how we're to engage the Holy Spirit. So, I've also interjected a little section in here uh about the Holy Spirit's take on uh you don't have to fake being fearless. And in for this point, we're just going to call it turning fear into trust. You know, you cannot just force yourself to stop being anxious through willpower. You know, the Holy Spirit acts as a supernatural disruptor to fear. So, when panic sets in, the spirit reminds us that um God's character is going to give you a sudden, unexplainable sense of peace that doesn't sense um that you know, it doesn't make sense to you it it given your circumstances. Okay? That and that and that basically that statement comes from Philippians 4:7, which is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. And it says my favorite uh it says, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." So, then there's a daily practice portion of this for us. For, you don't have to fake being fearless. You know, followers of Jesus are not expected to be emotionless. You know, the goal isn't to never feel fear. It's about what you do next. So, when anxiety hits, make a conscious pivot to the trust, mirroring what David's words were in verse three, "When I am afraid, I will trust." So, treat it like an alarm clock, you know, um that tells you, "Okay, it's time to hand this over to God." And you just take a breath and say, "God, I'm scared, but I'm trusting you in this anyway." You know, some seasons make it really hard to trust God. Not because you don't believe, but because what we're walking, you know, or what you or what we're walking through just feels too heavy. Well, what's been hardest for you lately? You need to take that to God today. He's not pushing you away. He's inviting you closer. Okay? So, point number two. God sees your worst nights. Not necessarily your worst nights is in the worst thing you're doing. Your worst nights is what's troubling you the most. So, a real-life view of this is that David took deep comfort in knowing that God counted his tosses in bed and cashes his tears in a bottle, right? Some versions say, uh, instead of catching tears in a bottle, "List my tears on your scroll." Or, "Put my tears in your wine's wine skin." You know, in our busy, hyper-connected world, it's incredibly easy to feel completely anonymous and invisible and lonely. So, what's the Holy Spirit's take on this? We'll call it noticing God's intimate care. You know, when you feel lonely or invisible, the Holy Spirit acts as your comforter and your counselor. Romans 8:16 says, "The Spirit directly reassures our deep inner self that we belong to God." When you're crying or hurting so badly that you don't have the words to pray, the Holy Spirit actually steps in and groans to God on your behalf, as mentioned in Romans 8:26. So, what's our daily practice here? You know, this theme reminds Christians that their personal pain is never invisible or wasted. This means that you are never crying alone in your car or tossing and turning at 3:00 in the morning unnoticed. God doesn't look at your pain from a distance. He pays attention to every single detail of your heartaches. And your struggles genuinely matter to him. Jesus took this even further in 10 uh verse 30 stating, "Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." Reinforcing that we as believers serve an intensely attentive father. Now, for me, it takes him a lot less longer to count the hairs on a head. But, I decided to put that in there anyway. That's okay. All right. Point number three. Flying right through this. We're going to be out We're going to be out We're going to breakfast today, Dave, not lunch. So, it says, "Thank him before the breakthrough." Thank him before the breakthrough. So, the real life view here is that David started praising God's promises while he was still trapped by his enemies. Usually, we wait until the problem is totally solved before we say, "Thank you." right? Don't we? So, the Holy Spirit praising before the breakthrough Praising God in a mess is hard. But, the Holy Spirit gives you the strength and perspective to do it. The Holy Spirit shifts your shifts your focus off your immediate problems and shines a spotlight on Jesus. He brings specific scriptures to mind or worship songs to mind. You know, giving you the supernatural power to say, "Thank you." even when your circumstances haven't changed yet. So, what's our daily practice in thanking him before the break through breakthrough? Well, trying to thank God for who he is uh right in the middle of a mess. Call it a pre-victory praise. Singing a worship song or listing things you're grateful for when life feels chaotic. You know, completely changes your perspective. It reminds you that your problems are small compared to how big God is. One great illustration of this is found in Acts 16 where Paul and Silas, after being beaten and facing certain death, prayed and sang hymns to God while chained in a dark prison cell long before the earthquake happened that released them. So, I took some time and found a story that best illustrates these three points. Um, you know, I'm trying to find them a real-life example for us to to follow. And one of the most famous real-life examples of Psalm 56 comes from Corrie ten Boom. So, most of you probably are familiar with the name, maybe not who she was or what she did. Um, so, basically Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch Christian who helped many Jewish people escape the Nazi Holocaust during World War II. She was eventually caught and sent to Ravensbruck, a notorious women's concentration camp. You know, her experiences in the camp perfectly illustrate then, you know, all three of these points that we've talked about in Psalm 56. So, the first point, actively choosing trust from Psalm 56 verse 3 says, "When Corrie and her sister Betsy were first forced into the barracks at Ravensbruck, they found a room completely swarming with fleas. Corrie was instantly terrified and overwhelmed by the horrific degrading conditions. In that moment of panic, her sister Betsy reminded her of the Bible's instruction to give thanks in all circumstances. Corrie didn't feel brave or fearless, but she made a conscious choice of trust uh, you know, to trust God blindly. She forced herself to pray and literally say, "Thank you, God, even for the fleas." So, in point two, God's intimate care from Psalm 56:8, living in a death camp, it was incredibly easy to feel completely invisible and abandoned by God. Millions of people were treated like numbers, stripped of their identity, and killed. However, Corrie often spoke about a small physical reminder of God's microscopic care for her. She had smuggled in a tiny bottle of liquid vitamins to give to her sick sister. Miraculously, no matter how many drops she squeezed out of it to help the freezing women around her, the bottle never ran dry. Every single day, that tiny bottle reminded Corrie of David's words in Psalm 56:8, that God keeps track of our wanderings and catches our tears in a bottle. God was intensely aware of her specific daily suffering in that crowded barracks. And to point three, praising before the breakthrough in Psalm 56:10, you know, months before they were ever released or saved, and while women were dying all around them, Corrie and Betsy did something radical. Every single night, they held the secret Bible studies in the back of the dark filthy barracks. They would quietly sing worship songs and praise God's promises in the middle of the Nazi concentration camp. They didn't wait until the war was over to praise God. They used praise as a frontier weapon, a front line weapon to keep despair from crushing their souls. So the beautiful twist in the story was only much later did Corrie find out why the camp guards never came into their barracks to stop their worship services and Bible studies. Can you guess why? Because of the fleas. The guards were so terrified of catching fleas that they completely avoided the room, giving the women total freedom to pray. So that very thing that caused Corrie fear was what God used to protect them. So, what did we learn today? Uh let's see what the next slide is. Yeah, what did we learn today? Uh we learned about anxiety management, we'll say. The Psalm offers a practical instruction for shifting from panic to praise during high stress situations. David wrote this while trapped by his enemies. And he was totally stressed out. You know, people were constantly breathing down his neck and trying to mess with him. So even though he was terrified, he kept telling himself, "Nope, I'm choosing to trust God anyway." Isolation and empathy. The Psalms reminds you that God sees your hidden emotional battles. Even when you feel completely alone or misunderstood by everyone else. David points out that God actually cares about our smallest hurts. Like he's literally collecting our tears in a bottle. And then the last point we'll just call it digital hostility to bring it up to modern day. Now one quote I read said the feeling of being watched and twisted mirrors the modern exhaustion of online criticism, workplace politics, or social social scrutiny. By the end, David realizes that if God has his back, regular people can't do anything to him. Which changes his whole mood from panic to thankful. So, I found something I thought might be helpful for you to help remember Psalm 56 in this message as you go through your week. It's actually you know, practical enough that you could make it part of your of a weekly routine. It's called the tear jar challenge. And it's on your note paper as well, so you can take it home and and and use it. But here's basically how it works. First, you find a small container. Use a small glass jar, a box, or if you're a techy, you can make a little digital note file, right? Number two, you write down your burdens. Every time you feel anxious, slated, uh slated or overwhelmed, write one sentence summary of that pain on a slip of paper. Number three, surrender it. Drop it in the Drop the paper into the jar as a physical symbol of handing it over to God. Explicitly telling yourself, "God keeps track of this, so I can let it go." And then And four, review and praise At the end of the week, read the slips, thank God for carrying those specific burdens, and then shred the paper. So, hopefully I will be helpful to you if you want to try to uh let go of some of your anxiety. Uh and uh and share it with God, which we are called to do. So, that's it for me. Short and sweet. I am going to uh pray for you. So, um worship team can I guess come back up. And so, I'm going to pray and then hand this back over to uh Pastor Anthony. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, honestly, some days feel heavy and it feels like everything is is stacking up against us. When anxiety sneaks in and tries to take us over, please help us pause and shift our focus back to you. Thank you for being a God who actually cares about the details in our lives. It is wild to think that you see every single one of our hidden struggles, and that you even keep keep track of our tears. Whenever we start to panic, remind us that we can choose trust over fear. If you are for us, we don't need to stress about what anyone else thinks or does. Wash away our anxiety today and replace it with your peace. Thank you for having our backs, always.