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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.