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A Study in Psalms - Psalm 44 · CCC West Covina

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Want to welcome you back to Christ Community Church and our
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summer of Psalms. And I think even though it's
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still May, summer has finally arrived, isn't it?
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Tonight we're going to look at Psalm 44.
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You want to turn there? Psalm 44 and the title of
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today's message, I hope you have an outline, is When good
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Christians Suffer. Last week I took about 3 or 4
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minutes to talk about Argentina. Tonight I want to talk about
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Myanmar or some of the old folks.
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Remember Burma? That's where Ping and I last
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served. We came home at the end of 2019
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and the plan was for me to go back 3-4 times a year to teach
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at the Bible school there. But you know what happened?
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COVID happened and then a civil war.
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The civil war there's really been going on for almost 80
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years, but it totally exploded in 2021 because the government
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had allowed democracy to come in.
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But in 2021, the Burmese army overthrew the democratic elected
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government and all, the, all the Christian tribes, Buddhist
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tribe, Muslim tribes revolted. And they're, they're winning the
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war right now. But we haven't been able to go
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back. But the reason we haven't been
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able to go back is because there's a group of pastors that
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Christ Community Church committed to train with a four
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year Bible school. They're called the Nagas.
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You may have heard of the Nagas in India.
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There's 29 not a tribes in India that most of them have come to
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Christ, one of the great missionary movements in the past
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century. But over in Burma, there's one
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tribe, the Tangsha Nagas, and nobody's working with them.
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They live in the most remote area of Burma, no Wi-Fi, we
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can't zoom with them. So for I think 6-7 times we took
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them out of their area. They would come sometimes on bus
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to Yangon. We even flew them in.
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But they can't travel now because if they travel, they'll
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get conscripted by the Burmese army or the rebel army.
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Last time they they got to the airport and they were stopped by
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the rebel army and they have letters that show their pastors
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and they weren't conscripted. But both sides are so desperate
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for soldiers, they wood forest them in so they won't travel.
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So I don't think October I can go and teach.
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We just have one more, one more, one more, three courses in one
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time we could do in two weeks and finish.
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Then we'd be done and they could graduate.
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But we're waiting. But some of you asked about how
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the situation is with the earthquake.
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The the Bible school that I taught out is now an official,
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the Masters Academy International.
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I think they have about 16 TMAI academies around the world and
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Myanmar is an official one now. It wasn't when I was there.
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But the school in Yonggun is safe.
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All my friends are safe. Tom Jin will be here next
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Sunday. He's coming to study for two
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weeks at the Masters Seminary. So you'll see a month next
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Sunday. But everybody's safe in Yonggu.
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But up north, it's Mandalay is the second largest city in
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Myanmar. And it is just devastating.
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You don't see a lot of the news for most people don't care about
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Myanmar. They care about Ukraine, Russia
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or Israel, Hamas. But they also the army doesn't
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allow reporters in there, especially Americans.
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So yesterday I was looking at a video from from Doctors Without
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Borders and it was that in Lee Lake, beautiful lake and all the
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houses are on stilts but virtually every house was
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knocked down. And in Mandalay 70 to 90% of the
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houses are destroyed and they don't have a lot of skyscrapers.
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Most of the houses 3-4 stories would be the high.
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But it is it's horrible there. But I was thinking at, because
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you see the temples, the monasteries and those stupas,
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you know, that a stupas, this large cylinder thing that they
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claim that there's a piece of Buddha's body and like a hair or
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a fingernail and there's millions of them, that's
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impossible. But they're all destroyed.
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They're sitting on their sides. And Isaiah 55, seven says, God
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says I create calamity. And that is the epicenter of
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Buddhism, not just in Burma, but almost that whole area of Asia.
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For example, Thailand, the boys will be monks for maybe two
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weeks. To honor their family, they have
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to be a monk. So they'll shave their head
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going to the monastery for two weeks.
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They don't want to be a monk. So over half the monks in
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Thailand that live full time in the monasteries are from Burma.
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So I believe God sent a message to them that he is, he is the
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one true God of the heavens and the earth.
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And they need to repent. But, but the Bible school in
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Yangon is safe and doing well. But up north, it's it's terrible
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that people are there. And I talk about Myanmar because
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I want to talk about the first American missionary went to
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Myanmar. And I've talked about it many
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times here. And that is a drone around
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Judson. And last year I recommended that
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you're teenagers or maybe you need to read probably the most
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powerful missionary biography that's out there.
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And it's called To the Golden Shore, The life of a drone and
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Ram Judson. And when we talk about our title
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tonight, When Good Christians Suffer, I'm just going to give
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you one paragraph. A donor, Ram Judson, lived from
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1788 to 1850, and he stepped onto Burmese soil.
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Originally he wanted to go to India, but he arrived in the
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year 1812 and India was in a war with America, so he wasn't
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allowed. To stay in India.
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So he went to Burma. But he arrived on the Burmese
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soil with no applause, but with anguish.
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For seven long years he preached without a single convert,
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digging into the language like a miner seeking the gold beneath
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stone. He buried his first child in
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foreign soil and watched his beloved wife and waste away from
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disease. And then he spent two years in
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brutal imprisonment, Chain Star suspended by his feet in a
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filthy Burmese death Cam. Yet even in the darkness of the
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dungeon, he whispered prayers in Burmese and in scraps of
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translated scripture under his thin mat, knowing that someday
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someone would read them. When Judson died in 1850, he
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died on a ship and was buried at sea after nearly 4.
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I'm sorry. After nearly 4 decades of toil,
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there were over 7000 baptized Burmese believers and more than
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60 churches have been planted and a fully translated Bible in
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the Burmese language. That Bible today is still used
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after 200 years. His body was committed to the
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sea, but his legacy lives on the hearts of people who once knew
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nothing of Christ. Today if you go to Kitchen
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State, there might be 2,000,000 Christians.
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Now I would say a lot of those are nominal Christians because
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the largest seminary there, the president doesn't even believe
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the Bible. But there are a lot of born
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again believers. When Judson sowed in sorrow,
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heaven reaped in joy and listen to what he wrote here.
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If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was
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ordered by an infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived
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my accumulated sufferings. Such words were not poetry, they
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were scars made in the praise. Let's read Psalm 44.
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Psalm 44 has a superscription that says to the choirmaster a
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mass skill of the sons of kora, and I'll talk about that in a
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little bit. Oh God, we have heard with our
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ears, our fathers have told us what deeds you performed in
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their days, in the days of old with you, with your own hand
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drove out the nation's. But them you planted, you
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afflicted the peoples, but them you set free.
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For not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their
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own arms save them, but your right hand, and your arm and the
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light of your face. For you delighted in them.
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You are my king. Oh, God ordains salvation for
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Jacob. Through you we push down our
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foes. Through your name we we tread
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down those who rise up against us.
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For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me.
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But you have saved us from our foes, and are put to shame those
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who hate us. In God we have boasted
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continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever,
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Sila. But you have rejected us and
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disgraced us, and have not gone out with our armies.
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You have made us turn back from the foe, and those who hate us
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have gotten spoiled. You have made us like sheep for
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the slaughter, and have scattered us among the nations.
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You have sold your people for A trifle, demanding no high price
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for them. You have made us the taunt of
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our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those around us.
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You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughing stock
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among the peoples. All day long my disgrace is
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before me, and shame is covered my face at the sound of the
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taunter and reveler, and the sight of the enemy and the
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avenger. All this has come upon us,
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though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false
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to Your covenant. Our heart is not turned back,
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nor have our steps departed from your way.
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Yet You have broken us into place of jackals, and covered us
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with the shadow of death. If we had forgotten the name of
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our God, or spread out our hands to a foreign God, would not God
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discover this? For He knows the secrets of the
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heart. Yet for your sake, we are
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killed. All day long we are regarded as
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sheep to be slaughtered awake. Why are you sleeping?
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O Lord, rouse yourself. Do not reject us forever.
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Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction
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and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to
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the dust. Our belly clings to the ground.
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Rise up, come to our help. Redeem us.
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For the sake of your steadfast love, let's pray.
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Father, tonight perhaps in our audience there are people who
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are suffering, wondering why. May this Psalm tonight help them
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to understand Your sovereignty, Your Providence, Your love, and
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Your mercy. And sometimes we'll never know
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why till we get to heaven in Jesus name, Amen.
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James Johnston wrote that our natural instinct is to think
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that if we obey God and do what is right.
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Things will go well. Our church will grow.
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Our kids will do well. My business will succeed.
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But God allows obedient Christians to go through deep
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trouble. Sometimes we suffer because
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we're disobedient. Israel was defeated at a high
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because Eakins sinned. He kept some of the spoil from
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Jericho. Ananias and Sapphira died
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because they lied to God. The writer of Hebrews 12 said
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God disciplines us when we sin and His purpose is to make us
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holy. But sometimes God allows us to
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go through hard times even when we are obedient and walking
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closely with Him. Job suffered pricely precisely
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because he honored God. Job 18.
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Joseph went to prison precisely because he honored God.
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Paul had a thorn in the flesh precisely because his ministry
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was so successful. This can be hard to understand.
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We understand when God disciplines us with hardships,
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when we have disobeyed Him. But why do trouble and tragedy
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come into our lives when we've been following God faithfully?
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This is the exact situation of Psalm 44.
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Let me talk a little bit about the type of Psalm.
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It's a lament. Of course, the the the author is
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crying out, and probably half the Psalms are laments.
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But usually Psalms are written to praise the Lord for military
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victories, right? But here's Psalm 44.
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The worship leader in the temple is crying out for some unknown
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military defeat. We don't know when this is.
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I'll talk a little bit about it. But whatever war battle it was,
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it was catastrophic. The Israel army had been
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defeated, many were taken slaves, and the situation was
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terrible. Sometime when you read Psalm 44,
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make sure you read Psalm 4243 and 44 together.
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They share many of the same themes.
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In Psalms 42, you know that's the as the deer pants Psalm.
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In Psalm 43, the king feels like God has forgotten and rejected
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him. In Psalm 44, the king speaks for
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a nation that feels like God has forgotten and rejected them.
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We have a. Nice superscription here.
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It just says to the choirmaster A maskiel.
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A maskiel is a wise saying or and some type of instruction put
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to music. And this one is written by the
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sons of Kora. We've looked at Psalm 5 and
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we've looked at Psalm 27. Both of those were written by
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King David. Tonight we have a different
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writer in Psalms. And the sons of Kora were the
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worship leaders in the temple. So we don't know if it's one guy
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who wrote the 11 of them, there's eleven of them or
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different ones. The sons of Kora, though,
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demonstrated in awe of God's holiness and power as expressed
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in their service to the Lord of the temple and the style of
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poetry they use in their psalms. Remember they wrote Psalms 42
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one. Remember that as the deer pants
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for the streams of water, so my soul pants for you.
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They also wrote Psalms 46 verses one and two.
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God is our refuge and strength, a very present help and trouble.
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Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way.
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They wrote Psalms 47. Clap your hands all you peoples
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shout to God with voices of triumph.
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They wrote Psalm 48. Great is our Lord and greatly to
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be praised. They wrote Psalm 49 verse 20,
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which says man in his pomp, yet without understanding is like
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the beasts of the field. And then of course that
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wonderful Psalm 84 and you know verse 10 says for a day in your
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courts is a better than 1000 elsewhere.
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I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house.
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Oh my God, then dwell in the tents of the wicked.
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They also wrote Psalms 87, which we'll look at probably four or
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five weeks from now, which says glorious things of you are
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spoken, O city of God. They also wrote Psalms 444585
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and 8811 Psalms all together. So the their poetry, the Hebrew
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poetry, which we've translated in English is really beautiful.
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Let's look at your outline tonight.
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We have #1A prosperous past, verses 1/8 #2A painful present,
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verses 9 to 22, and a positive future, verses 23 to 26.
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There are some outlines if you in the back, if you didn't pick
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one up, try to leave one every week.
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Let's start with a prosperous past verses one day.
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So God is Israel's king here on the basis of past experiences.
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You know, if you read Psalm 42 and Psalm 43, you see the words
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hoping God, hoping God, hoping God three times.
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The psalmist is going to do that in verses 1 to 8 year,
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remembering the prosperous, the glorious past that Israel had
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got. 2 sub points there. They have been planted in the
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land. And let's look at that.
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Number one, they've been planted in the land.
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So First off, we're going to have God brought them, God built
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them. I think that's the only two sub
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points. Yeah.
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So let's talk about God. God brought them verses one to
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two. OK, the psalmist says.
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We have heard with our ears. They didn't have the Bible like
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we do. They weren't able to read the
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word of God. But they would tell stories,
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grandfathers to fathers to children, would tell the stories
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of the exodus from Egypt, the conquest of Canaan.
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Five times here in verses 1/8, it says you, you, you.
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Actually in my translation, 21 times in the Psalms, it says
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you, you, you, you, of course, is God.
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God did it. All of it was from God.
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God gave the people his great victories.
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If you'd like to turn to Joshua 24 with me, Joshua, and this is
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the last chapter in the book of Joshua, He reminds the people,
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the children of Israel in the last chapter, who was
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responsible for the conquest of Canaan.
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And in Joshua 24, I'll read verses 6 to 8 and then I'll jump
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to 10 to 13. But in Joshua 24 it says, then I
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brought your father's out of Egypt and you came to the sea,
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and the Egyptians pursued your father's with Chariots and
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horsemen to the Red Sea, and then they cried to the Lord.
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He put darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea
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come upon them and cover them. And your eyes saw what I did in
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Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness
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a long time. Verse 8.
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Then I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who lived on
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the other side of the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave
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them into your hand, and you took possession of their land,
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and I destroyed them before you. Then Balak son, is a poor king
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of Moab. Rose, rose and fought against
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Israel, and he sent invited Balaam, son of the OR to curse
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you. But I would not listen to
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Balaam. Indeed he blessed you.
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So I delivered you out of his hand.
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And then if you go to verse 11 and you went over to the Jordan
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and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought
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against you, and also the Amorites, the Perzites, the
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Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgosites, the Hittites and
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Jebusites. And I gave them your hand, and I
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sent the Hornet before you, which drove them out before you.
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2 kings of the Amorites. He was not by your sword or your
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bow I gave them. I gave you a land on which you
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had not labored and cities that you had not built.
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And you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards
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and all of orchards that you did not plant. 10 times there he
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says aye, aye aye. God brought them out.
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Sub point to God built them up in verse 3.
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OK, he says it was not by their own sword did they win the land
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nor did their own army save them.
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But your right hand, your arm and the light of your face
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delighted them. It wasn't by their own sword.
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We just read Joshua 24 that says God did it 10 times.
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You know one of my favorite passages in Joshua.
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I love the book of Joshua because it's war and you know,
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if you like war movies like Saving Private Ryan like that,
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like me, Joshua is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible.
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In Joshua 10, we have this battle where there's 5 kings led
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by Adenizaetic and he's the king of Jerusalem and he went to
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attack Gibeon. And remember the Gibeonites in
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the previous chapter, Chapter 9 had tricked Joshua.
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Joshua didn't pray. Probably the one time in the
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book of Joshua that Joshua didn't seek the God's advice.
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So the Gibbeonites had deceived Israel, but now the Gibbeonites
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are being attacked and they cry out to Israel to help them.
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And in Joshua 10, I'm sorry, Joshua 10, it says in verse 11,
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as they fled before the Lord, while they were going down the
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ascent of Beth Warren, the Lord threw down large stones from
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heaven on them as far as he's at, and they died.
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And this is, this is what I love.
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There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons
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of Israel killed with the sword time and time again.
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Battle and battle. God won the war, not their
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armies. And notice here in verse three
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that we have 3 metaphors. We have the right hand of God,
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the arm of God, and the light of his face.
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So he says by your right right arm.
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OK, that is used 40 times in psalms.
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It signifies power, signifies the omnipotence of an almighty
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God. It's you.
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Psalms 26 says Now I know that Yahweh saves his anointed, He
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will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of
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his right hand. Psalms 110 that great messianic
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Psalm verse one says Yahweh says to my Lord, sit at my right hand
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until I put your enemies as a footstool for your feet.
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Then he just says your arm, your arm.
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Another anthropomorphism. Anthropomorphisms are when.
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The the writers of the Bible ascribe human characteristics to
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a God. God doesn't have an arm, doesn't
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have eyes, He's a spirit. But we have to describe them.
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So we use these anthropomorphisms.
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And the second one he just says, and your arm and Psalms 10/12
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says arise, O Lord, O God, lift up your hand.
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The third is, and the light of your face, that just means God's
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gracious favor when God sheds His light for his face and you
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look at Deuteronomy 9, you don't have to turn there, I'll read
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it, but Deuteronomy 9, four to six, God reminds the children of
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Israel. Do not say in your heart after
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the Lord your God has thrust them out before you.
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It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has
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brought me in to possess this land.
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Whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that
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the Lord is driving them out before you.
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Not because of your righteousness or uprightness of
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your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because
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of the wickedness of those nations, the Lord God is driving
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them out before you. And that He may confirm the word
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that the Lord swore to your father's, to Abraham, Isaac, and
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a Jacob. So they had been planted in the
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land. They had been built.
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They've been brought into the land and they've been built up
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in the land. Let's look at.
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Subpoint number B. They have been protected in the
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land, and here God decrees the victories.
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God defeats the foes and God delivers them.
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So First off, God decreed the victories.
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Verse four, he just says you are my king.
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O God ordained salvation for Jacob last week we said in
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Psalms 27 in Psalms when you see the word salvation, it's the Old
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Testament. It means a victory or
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deliverance granting salvation. It's not the salvation of a born
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again Christian of the New Testament.
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We said last week, but it's crying out for deliverance and
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Deuteronomy 4 verse 37 to 38 and it says and because he loved
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your father's and chose their offspring after them and brought
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you out of Egypt with his own presence and great power,
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driving out nations greater and mightier than you to bring you
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in to give their land as an inheritance as it is to this
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day. So God decreed the victories.
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Sometime if you do it you'll if you're reading your Old
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Testament, obviously you'll get it.
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But when you get to Joshua 12, 31 battles, it says victory won
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31 times. God ordained victory.
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So God decreed the victories in verse 4.
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In verses 5 to 6, God defeated the foes.
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OK, Now notice in verse 5 it says though you through you we
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push down our foes. So most commentators think that
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the people answer the king in verse 5 saying we, and then in
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verse 6 we'll talk about that second.
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So the people answer the king in verse 5 in the plural, saying
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we. For many years the Lord had been
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the invisible warrior who went before the Jewish armies and LED
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them to victory. Joshua 5 verse 13 to 14 says
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when Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and look, and
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behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword
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in his hand. And Joshua said to him, Joshua
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went to him and said to him, are for you.
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Are you for us or for adversaries.
23:38
And verse 14 and he said, no, I am the commander of the army of
23:43
the Lord. Now I have come believe that is
23:46
the pre Incarnate risen Christ. So God defeated their foes.
23:52
And then Point C there verses 5 and eight God delivered them.
23:56
OK, so here, now the king is going to speak in plural again
24:00
in verse 7 when he says you and then the people are going to
24:03
answer in plural, we in verse 8. And God delivered them.
24:08
I'll talk a little bit in a minute about Psalm 60 and Psalm
24:12
44 are very closely aligned. And Psalm 60 says, O grant us
24:17
help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man.
24:21
With God we shall do valiantly, for it is he who will tread down
24:25
our foes. God delivered him.
24:28
Verse 8 ends with Selah, and I haven't talked a lot in the last
24:31
four or five years about the selas.
24:33
OK, There's about 73 of them in the Psalms and commentators
24:37
argue about them. So I'll just tell briefly that
24:39
this first paragraph ends with the word Selah.
24:42
You'll notice the next paragraph begins with yet or but now Selah
24:46
is probably some type of music reflection where you pause.
24:50
Maybe it's verses 18 or 1111 chorus in the next.
24:56
Some people think it's a pause for a vocal instrument or an
24:59
interlude like a flourish. So what do we learn for these
25:02
first 8 verses? Maybe Israel had a glorious
25:06
past, right? And maybe you've had a glorious
25:09
past. Maybe you serve the Lord
25:11
faithfully. Maybe you've attended church
25:13
faithfully. Maybe you've given your ties.
25:16
Maybe everything's great. But you got to be careful
25:19
because we come to the next point.
25:21
In times of trouble, believers need to rebuild their confidence
25:24
in God by recalling the great deeds that he did in the past,
25:28
in their lifetime. That's what the psalmist did.
25:31
Before he gets to point #2 let's look at point #2 the painful
25:35
present. So as the psalmist is writing
25:38
this, there's a sad plight of Israel at the present as he's
25:42
writing it, verses 9 to 22. And you have two sub points
25:46
there. Their military disaster is real.
25:48
And the moral dilemma is really so let's look at the military
25:53
disaster is real 4 little sub points here.
25:57
They were defeated, they were deported, they were despised and
26:01
they were disgraced, defeated, departed, despised and
26:04
disgraced. So verses 9 to 10 they were
26:07
defeated. So it begins verses 1 to 8.
26:10
We have the triumphs of the past and if it ended there, this
26:14
would be a victory Psalm like many of the psalms that we have.
26:17
But verse 9 begins with the board, but and in in in maybe
26:22
you're, I think the LSB and the NASB say yet.
26:25
But you notice that it changes right now in verses 9 to 16, we
26:30
have sadness. We have defeat six times.
26:34
In verses 9 to 16, the psalmist says you, you, you.
26:38
My translation says 21 times in 26 verse it says you the you is
26:44
God. And now it seems that God is
26:47
forsaken Israel. He's forsaking his people.
26:50
He's abandoned them. The army of Israel has been
26:53
defeated and the enemy has gotten much spoil and slaves
26:57
have been taken captain, so they've been defeated.
27:00
Next they've been deported. Verses 11 to 12.
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Not only has the army of Israel been defeated, but God has
27:06
allowed many to be killed, others scattered, and God has
27:10
allowed slaves to be taken for no great price.
27:14
When was the defeat? Well, when most people read
27:17
verse 11, they automatically say, aha, this is the Babylonian
27:21
captivity that is recorded when Israel was finally destroyed and
27:26
and Nebuchadnezzar took back. But that's not what Psalm 44 is
27:29
about. Commentators other there have
27:32
been other deportations. If you read we won't turn there,
27:36
but read Amos verse one 6 to 9. It talks about Edomites.
27:42
Edom and Moab had deported some Israelites.
27:45
So there have been some, but turn with me to Psalm 60 and I
27:49
mentioned they're very similar and I'm not going to take a lot
27:53
of time tonight because we got 26 verses to cover, but.
27:57
Psalm 60 and Psalm 44 are like companion Psalms you can see.
28:03
Psalm 60 verse one. Oh God, you have rejected us.
28:07
You've broken our defenses. You've been angry with us.
28:09
You made the land, the quake all through this Psalm.
28:13
It's not as long as the other Psalm 12 verses, but I want you
28:16
to look at the superscription. Everybody see the dot there?
28:19
This is the longest superscription of the 100 and
28:23
114 superscriptions that we have on the 150 psalms.
28:27
And it says there to the choirmaster, according to the
28:31
Shushan Edith, a victim of David for instruction when he strove
28:37
with a ram Naram and with a ramzo Bob when Joab on his
28:42
return struck down 12,000 of Edom in the valley of salt.
28:47
So some commentators and I would lean toward this, believe that
28:50
when he says when he strove. So it's possible that Israel had
28:54
some military defeats, probably in Second Samuel chapters 8-9
28:58
and 10 that we that God has not recorded it.
29:02
Remember the secret things belong to God, the revealed
29:04
things belong to us. So if Psalms 44 and Psalm 60 are
29:09
about some military defeat that God has not told us.
29:12
And so we just assumed David won every battle, David won every
29:15
war, but there might have been some battles that maybe he
29:18
wasn't there. They made maybe joy lost.
29:21
So that's what I think there that it is.
29:24
So remember that I don't, I don't believe it's about the
29:28
Babylonian captivity, but it's an unknown military defeat,
29:31
possibly linking with Psalm 60. But remember, it's a reminder
29:36
that the righteous can suffer. OK, Daniel was taken captive to
29:40
Babylon. Ezekiel was taken captive to
29:42
Babylon. They were made slaves there.
29:45
The righteous can suffer when God punishes the nation of
29:48
Israel. Let's look at #3 They were
29:50
despised. Verses 13 to 14.
29:54
Not only were they defeated, not only were they deported, they
29:58
were despised. The enemy nations surrounding
30:01
Israel were rejoicing that Israel had been humiliated.
30:05
They were taunting Israel. So the sons of Kora here writing
30:09
could not understand. What the Lord was doing and why
30:12
he was doing it, Psalms 4210 says as a deadly wound in my
30:18
bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all day
30:22
long, where is your God? Remember when, when in in this
30:27
time ancient times when a country won, when the
30:29
Philistines won the battle, they, they.
30:31
Attributed to their gods. So when Israel lost the war the
30:35
the the enemies would taunt Israel saying where's your God?
30:38
And our verse, it says verse 14 he's saying.
30:41
You, God, have made us a laughingstock among the nations.
30:45
It reminds us of Psalm 137. One Psalm 137 Remember that by
30:51
the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we
30:54
remembered Zion on the willows there we hung our harps, for our
30:59
captors required us songs, and our tormentors MERS saying, sing
31:04
us the songs of Zion. So that tells us when they were
31:07
slaves on the way to Babylon they were tortured and forced to
31:11
to sing songs. So not only were they, they were
31:15
despised. Verses 15 to 16, they were
31:17
disgraced. He says all day long my disgrace
31:21
is before me. Shame is covered my face at the
31:25
taunt of the tauntner and reveler at the side of the enemy
31:28
and the avenger. The psalmist was ashamed because
31:31
the enemies are giving glory to their false gods.
31:34
And he's wondering where is the one true God who gave us those
31:38
victories before? Let's look at sub point B.
31:42
The moral dilemma is reeling. And here they were.
31:46
They were dedicated. They were defeated and they were
31:50
disillusioned. So normally whenever there was
31:55
trouble in Israel, it was assumed it was because somebody
31:58
sinned, Right When Israel was defeated at a high, 36 Israeli
32:02
soldiers were killed. It was because of Aiken's sin.
32:05
That's the only battle that Joshua lost, right?
32:09
When there was a three-year famine in David's time, Second
32:12
Samuel 21, it was because Saul had slaughtered to give me
32:16
nights and God had had put this famine.
32:20
And then when David numbered the people of Israel in Second
32:24
Samuel 21 / 70,000, Israelites would die because of David's
32:28
sin. So usually it's because there's
32:32
some sin. But here the psalmist doesn't
32:35
know of any sin to be confessed. Here we have the problem of this
32:39
Psalm. Israel had remained faithful.
32:43
Israel is not, they're not claiming to be sinless now, but
32:46
they don't know why God has punished them, why God has
32:49
defeated their army, why God has let slaves be sold and the
32:53
enemies win. And he says in our Psalm here,
32:55
in these verses here, they had not forgotten God.
32:59
They had not been false to his covenant.
33:02
They've been loyal to God's covenant.
33:04
They had not turned away from God.
33:06
They had not departed from his way.
33:08
See verse 20 there OK, they knew God's search.
33:12
There's they said God, you search the hearts of men and if
33:16
there was any treachery, you would discover it God.
33:19
So they're saying what Psalms 139 verse 23 and 24 says, search
33:24
me, O Lord, know my heart, test me God.
33:26
That's what they're saying, God test us.
33:28
We don't know of any evil sin that we've done.
33:31
We don't know why you let us lose this war.
33:34
One commentator says this Psalm is perhaps the clearest example.
33:38
Of a search for some other cause of natural disaster than guilt
33:44
and punishment. So let's look at then defeated
33:47
in verse 19. The psalmist uses darkness here.
33:51
He says you have broken us in the place of jackals and covered
33:55
us with the shadow of death. Remember that shadow of death?
33:59
Does that sound familiar? Psalms 23 verse 4 quoted it last
34:03
week. Even though I walk through the
34:05
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
34:09
But here the psalmist uses darkness to depict desperate,
34:13
threatening circumstances. God has crushed them and covered
34:17
them with a shadow of death and they are in fear and then
34:21
they're disillusioned. In verses 20 to 22, you know, in
34:26
times of suffering, people evaluate their lives in attempt
34:30
to see, is this suffering from God?
34:32
Did I do some sin? And God is discipline.
34:35
But the people in Psalm. Had done that and they found
34:39
nothing warranted the calamity. They go so far to say God
34:44
wouldn't accuse them. You know so far God wouldn't.
34:47
Accuse them or send a prophet to tell them what they did wrong.
34:50
OK, he says there, for he knows the secrets of the heart their.
34:57
Strength was based on the fact that God sees.
35:00
They know God's omniscient. They know God would see.
35:03
Yet verse 22, verse 22 says, Yet for your sake we are killed all
35:08
day long. We are regarded as sheep to be
35:10
slaughtered. Does that verse sound familiar?
35:14
Paul quotes this verse in Romans chapter 8, verse 36, that great
35:20
chapter in Romans 8. So Paul takes this verse from
35:23
verse 22 of Psalm 44 to tell the Romans that, hey, some of you
35:30
may die, some of you may die, you may face death in your
35:35
trials. You know, last week I said that
35:37
God doesn't have many of us. None of us here are probably
35:41
going to be martyr unless something drastically changes.
35:43
God just asked us to live for him.
35:45
But there are countries, there are places in the world that,
35:49
that, that there are many Christian martyrs, Nigeria and
35:51
India and China and places like that.
35:55
It was in, you know, I said God doesn't ask many of us to be
35:58
martyrs, but he asks for all of us to live for him.
36:03
But it was on January 8th, 1956, five American missionaries were
36:09
killed in Ecuador. They were attempting to
36:12
evangelize a tribe called the the war Irani people.
36:15
And you probably know the story. Jim Elliott, Nate St.
36:19
Ed McCauley, Peter Fleming, Rodger Yoderin were attacked and
36:23
they were literally speared or bows and arrows were killed him
36:27
and many people thought it was such a waste.
36:29
It looked like a terrible defeat.
36:32
It was on the cover of Life magazine and it was a huge story
36:36
all around the world. Today, if a missionary dies in
36:38
the world. You know nobody.
36:40
'S going to cover it, right? But it looked like a defeat.
36:43
It looked like a waste of five young men.
36:47
But that caused thousands of missionaries to take up the
36:51
mantle to go out and spread the gospel.
36:54
The the the incident known as Operation Akua gain worldwide
36:58
attention and was covered by Life magazine.
37:00
The missionary's death led to a significant media coverage and
37:04
feel missionary interest and help send missionaries all over
37:08
the world. God is responsible for the
37:11
disaster here. God was responsible for that
37:14
disaster there and allowed it. But remember, the U21 times in
37:19
the Psalm also means that God is in control.
37:23
He allows the disasters to happen.
37:25
I quoted Isaiah 45 seven. God creates darkness and causes
37:30
disasters. The same God who gave Israel the
37:33
victories in the past is the same God who allows suffering in
37:38
the present. In times of trouble, believers
37:41
must pour out their complaint to God alone because their
37:44
affliction can bring a reproach to them and to the faith.
37:48
Let's look at, at the last point, the positive future.
37:52
And here's a prayer, just a simple 232424 verse prayer about
37:58
the future and two sub points. The psalmist is saying, God,
38:02
rouse yourself and #2 God redeem us.
38:05
And notice in verse 23 in rapid fire, the psalmist has three
38:09
questions. Awake while you're sleeping.
38:11
O Lord, why do you hide your face?
38:13
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
38:16
Well, he says awake while you're sleeping.
38:18
O Lord, the psalmist knows God isn't sleeping, but God is just
38:22
silent, right? Psalms 121 says He will not let
38:26
your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not
38:29
slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will
38:32
neither slumber nor sleep. We all know that God.
38:35
Doesn't sleep. God doesn't tire out like us.
38:38
He's just been silent here, but he's crying out to God to ask
38:42
for help. He says why do you hide your
38:44
face? Usually the psalmist ask God to
38:48
let your let your face shine upon us.
38:51
Psalms 80 verse 3 Psalms 80 verse 7 Psalms 80 verse 19 three
38:57
times it says restore us. O God, let your face shine upon
39:01
us that we might be saved. So usually they cry out to let
39:06
the face of God shine on them, but here they don't.
39:10
They're not feeling the light of God's face, so they're crying
39:12
out to God. It seems that God is sleeping,
39:15
God is hiding his face. So the psalmist asked God, rouse
39:20
yourself and no longer ignore your people.
39:23
God, we are crushed, we are despised.
39:25
Help us. The third question, he says, why
39:28
do you forget our affliction and oppression?
39:31
Of course God doesn't forget. Not God is silent, but he knows
39:35
exactly what's going on. The psalmist is saying, God, you
39:39
helped. Us in the past, you must help us
39:42
now, but you're not helping us even though we have done nothing
39:46
to prohibit you from helping us. So help us when commentator said
39:52
the last hope. Of a faithful people is the
39:55
faithfulness of God. So they're crying out to God to
40:00
to to wake up to help them and then some point be God redeem
40:03
us. The last two verses of the
40:05
Psalm, he, he says that our soul is bowed down the dust, our
40:11
belly clings to the ground, they're saying.
40:13
We don't have any power. We don't have any strength.
40:17
But some are people. We've been killed, some are
40:19
people and taking captive OK, We have no power.
40:23
But then he says in verse 26, rise up because you God have the
40:27
power. You God need to rise up.
40:30
You need to come to our help. You need to redeem us.
40:33
And he says, for the sake of your steadfast love.
40:37
So he's crying out, calling upon the character of God, the one
40:42
attribute that he says, maybe your translation says mercies,
40:45
but I think the better translation is steadfast love,
40:49
James Boyce says about this verse.
40:51
The love of God is of such a quality that even in terrible
40:56
defeats of the precise moment are not without a purpose.
41:01
And will not even in the worst extremity sever the believing
41:06
one from God. What he's saying and what the
41:08
psalmist is doing here, he's crying out for the God.
41:12
Be true to your character. You're a God of love.
41:15
That's one of your greatest attributes.
41:17
Remember us. And for the sake of your love,
41:20
come help us Romans 8 which I mentioned earlier, Paul quotes
41:25
it. And if you want to turn the
41:27
Romans 8 verse 36, Paul quotes Psalm 42 verse 22 and he says.
41:33
As it is written, that's Psalm 4222.
41:36
For your sake, we are being killed all day long.
41:39
We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
41:42
So there were some in the Roman church who are being persecuted,
41:45
some who are being killed, some being jailed, some being chased
41:48
out. But then he says those great
41:51
words that in Psalm 8 know in all things we are more than
41:56
conquerors through Him who loved us.
41:58
For I am sure that neither death nor life, neither angels nor
42:01
rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, not powers, not
42:06
height nor depth, nor anything else in all of creation, will be
42:11
able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
42:14
Lord. So some of these Israelites may
42:18
die in Psalm 44 and in Rome 8 some of them died.
42:22
And today in Nigeria, today in India, Today in China, today in
42:27
some countries around the world, God may allow some Christians
42:31
some. Good Christians to die not
42:34
because of any sin in their life, but it's just part of His
42:37
sovereignty, part of his Providence.
42:39
But nothing, not even death, will separate them from the love
42:43
of God. So if you're suffering.
42:47
If you think God isn't answering, remember the love of
42:50
God. It's all right to say Lord, I
42:53
don't understand it, but I will trust you anyway.
42:57
It's better to say thank you, Lord, for letting the suffering
43:00
come into my life because I know you're using it to conform me to
43:05
the image of your Son and to make me more efficient and more
43:09
effective servant. You know the Bible tells us that
43:12
we are to receive suffering and joy with Thanksgiving.
43:16
Not that it's easy, right? James, 11 and two, says, count
43:19
it all. Joy, my brothers, when you meet
43:22
trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your
43:26
faith produces steadfastness and.
43:29
Let the steadfastness have its full effect on you, that you may
43:32
be perfect, complete, lacking in nothing, and one more verse.
43:36
Second Corinthians 417 says for this light momentary affliction,
43:42
and you may say, well, it's not the cancer, the divorce or loss
43:46
of job is not a light momentary affliction.
43:50
Yes, it is. Because someday, when you're in
43:52
heaven, you're. Going to look back at that
43:54
momentary affliction and the last part of it says that
43:58
momentary light affliction is preparing for us and eternal
44:02
weight of glory beyond all comparison.
44:05
Somebody in heaven you will look back at that trial that you
44:09
didn't understand. It'll be that small.
44:11
So tonight in just a few minutes we have left when good
44:15
Christians suffer what should we do?
44:18
Psalms 44 doesn't. Actually give us the answers,
44:21
does it? But it tells.
44:23
But it does teach us that we just need to trust God.
44:26
Cry out for His love. Cry out for His help.
44:29
So I'm going to give you 7 quick things that you need to do when
44:33
good Christians suffer. OK number one, examine to see if
44:38
you're in the faith. Examine to see if you have Jesus
44:42
Christ in your heart. OK Second, that's second
44:45
Corinthians 13. Five says examine to see if
44:48
you're in the. Faith.
44:50
Is my trial, is my my suffering because I'm not even a
44:55
Christian. We have a president who is not a
44:57
Christian, and he has a false teacher named Paula White who is
45:01
his spiritual advisor. And I pray every day that
45:04
somehow Trump will come to the Lord, and especially that
45:07
somehow Christians around America could tell him to dump
45:10
that Paula White because she is a charlatan, a false teacher.
45:14
But there are millions of people in America and even more so
45:19
around the world who follow these false teachers and they're
45:23
not believers. They don't know the Lord their,
45:26
their promise, their kids will be healed.
45:27
The promise they get money. So they're following God like a
45:30
genie and they don't know salvation through faith alone.
45:34
So number one, I trust everybody here tonight has Jesus Christ in
45:37
your heart. But examine yourself to see if
45:40
you're in the faith #2 examine yourself to see is there any sin
45:44
in my life? And I mentioned the Psalm 139,
45:48
verses 23 to 24. The psalmist says search me.
45:51
O Lord, when you confess your sins, are you willing to say
45:54
search me? O Lord, did I sin today?
45:58
Did I do something today to my wife or get mad?
46:00
Or did I have a road rage or search me, O Lord God, you know
46:04
my heart, try me. No, because you know my
46:07
thoughts. And verse 24 says, see if
46:11
there's any grievous way in me and lead me in the way
46:14
everlasting. So ask God, is there any sin in
46:17
my life? You I need, you need to expose
46:19
to me. Remember in Numbers 12, Aaron
46:23
and Miriam sinned against God and God judged and gave Miriam
46:27
leprosy. Remember in First Corinthians
46:29
11, the Corinthian believers were were getting drunk and they
46:33
were not sharing the food with the poor, and God struck some.
46:35
Of them down, that was for sin. And remember in Second
46:38
Chronicles 26, Uzziah went into the temple to offer incense.
46:42
He's not allowed to and God struck him with leprosy.
46:45
So God can cause some suffering because of.
46:48
Sin or lie? #3 chastening, chastening
46:53
Hebrews 12 And I won't go there time 'cause I don't have the
46:56
time. But Hebrews 12 verses 5 to 12
46:59
basically says the Lord disciplines those He loves.
47:04
So maybe you're not reading your Bible like you should be.
47:08
Maybe you're not praying like Psalm 5.
47:11
OK, God can chasten you. How's your walk with the Lord?
47:15
God can chasten you, which causes you to go back to Him.
47:19
And we all know that, you know, sometimes divorce causes women
47:23
or men to go back to the Lord when they weren't walking with
47:25
the Lord. So God can chasten those He
47:27
loves to draw us closer to Him. And similar #4 strengthening,
47:34
OK, God may permit suffering as a means of purifying or
47:39
strengthening the soul and godliness.
47:41
You know, the Second Corinthians chapter 12 verses 8.
47:45
I won't do the whole story, but three times Paul pleaded with
47:48
the Lord to take away, take this trial away from me, Lord, and
47:54
that should leave me. But what did God say to, to Paul
47:56
in verse nine of Second Corinthians 12?
47:59
My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in
48:04
weakness. Therefore I will boast all the
48:06
more gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may
48:10
rest upon me for the sake of Christ.
48:12
And I am content in weaknesses, insults, hardships,
48:17
persecutions, calamities. For and I'm weak and I'm strong.
48:22
God did not answer Paul's prayer.
48:24
So Paul had to, just had to suffer.
48:26
But it's strengthening him, right?
48:28
And #5 Remember the Titans? Not that football movie which I
48:33
saw a couple months ago, but the Titans.
48:36
Who are the Titans? Job, Elijah, Paul and I could go
48:41
on about Daniel, Moses, Jeremiah.
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So if you're suffering, the last thing you cannot do is neglect.
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Reading your Bible. So Job nobody will ever suffer
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like Joe. We had a wonderful study 30
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messages by Job and you can get the cassettes or listen to him
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online. But remember Job and I quoted
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last week Job 2310, Job says. But he knows the way that I take
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and when he has tried me, that's God I.
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Shall come out like gold. We need to remember Job came out
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like gold and you will come out like gold.
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If you just trust the Lord even though you don't know why and
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how it's happening. And remember the other Titan,
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Elijah in first Kings 19, he says, Oh Lord, take my life.
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I'm no better than my father's. I just want to die.
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And God doesn't really answer him.
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He tells him, hey, you're not the only one.
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I have 7000 who have not bowed the need the ball.
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And then he, you know, doesn't really he says, Elijah, I got
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more work for you. Go do this three things.
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Go do this, go do this, go do this.
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OK, And then remember Paul in Second Corinthians chapter one,
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verse 8, it's Paul says, for we don't want you to be unaware,
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brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia, for we were
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utterly burdened beyond our strength, that we despaired of
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life itself. I don't know what happened, but
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Paul wanted to die in 2nd Corinthians 1 to 8 because
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affliction was so great. He says in verse 9, indeed, we
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felt like we had received a sentence of death, whatever was
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going on, but that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on
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God who can raise the dead. He delivered us from such a
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dilatedly peril and he will deliver us on him.
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We have set our hope that he will deliver us again.
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So remember the Titans, remember Job, remember Elijah, remember
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Paul, how God let them suffer, but God used them in a mighty
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way and he will use you. And number six, just real
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simple, God is worthy of our love even apart from the
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blessings he bestows. That's one you need to write
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down, meditate upon. God is worthy of love.
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We need to love God not because of what he gives us.
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That would be a genie like giving you free wishes, right?
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We need to love God just simply because who he is, OK, and not
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because of what he gives us, OK? They're Christians around the
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world who will accept Christ today and could be murdered
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tomorrow. So God is worthy of love even
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apart from the blessing he bestows.
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And then #7 God's thoughts and ways are moved by considerations
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too vast for our puny mind to understand.
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And you know the verse Isaiah 55, eight and nine for my
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thought. This is God saying for my
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thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways,
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declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher
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than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
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thoughts than your thoughts. We can't understand what God's
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doing sometimes in our world, in our lives, in our church, in our
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neighborhoods, in our country, what he's doing the state of
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California with our politicians and sometimes.
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We got to just give it up to the sovereignty of God.
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Last week, if you were here, I finished Psalm 27.
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Quoting the hymn by Stuart Hamlin and a bunch of you looked
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it up this week. But I just love that verse 4
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says, I know not what the future holds, but I know who holds the
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future. God's in charge.
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He's in control. So those are just seven things.
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If you're going, if you say God, why am I suffering?
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Please review that. You know when good Christians
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suffer. There was a British Methodist
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preacher named William Sangster, and I've used this illustration
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before because I have this on my phone and I read it periodically
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because most of you know I have a 13 year.
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Old daughter who has special needs and this has been one
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thing that's helped me in times of trouble.
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What this man said. But this this preacher found out
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that he had muscular atrophy. And he knew he was going to die.
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He was not going to get well. So he made 4 resolutions and it
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says that he kept them to the end.
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And I wrote I keep these in my and I memorize it.
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He says #1 I will never complain.
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I will never complain. I'm not going to cry about it.
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I'm not going to complain about. It. #2 I will keep the home
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bright and I love that because I know I have a great wife and I'm
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not going to sit around and complain.
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I'm not going to say poor me I know someday my daughter will
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sing, someday she'll run in heaven #3 I will count my
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blessings. Today Ping and I went to a House
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of another special needs family and their boy has cystic
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fibrosis and they have feeding tubes.
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They have to get up every two hours.
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They, you know, we test is pretty healthy most of the time.
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So I count my blessings. So number one, I will never
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complain #2 I'll keep the home right and #2 I will count my
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blessings and #4 I will try to turn.
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The suffering, I will try to turn it the game.
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Talked to somebody this week that went through a, a tragedy,
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a horrible tragedy several years ago.
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And this week, last week, they got to share with somebody who
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had a similar tragedy. God, man.
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And those people were not believers.
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It's the same thing. The house that I was at today,
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the people are 7th Day Adventist and we've had conversations.
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They are not born again. And so Ping and I have tried
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repeatedly to talk to them. And in this week, because I'm
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going to a special league conference this week, it's
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called like a retreat at John MacArthur's church.
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They're willing to go visit John MacArthur's church even though
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they're 7th Day Adventists. So we're trying to win them
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over. So number one, I'll never
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complain #2 I'll keep the home right #3 I will count my
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blessings and #4 I will try to turn it to game.
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I will try to use my daughter's special needs to see if we can
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reach other people for the Lord and use it for gain.
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On the back of your outline if you have an outline.
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If you don't have it, there's a chart.
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This I did not write this. This is from the life
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application Bible, popular Bible many 20 years ago.
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And I've I've looked at this sometimes and I and I have it
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printed out so I can look at it and maybe it'll help you.
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There's just somewhere to get help in the book of Psalms when
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you feel afraid alone, OK, when you're facing, you know,
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criticism, danger or death, when you want acceptance.
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So I hope that maybe you can keep this sometimes and read the
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Psalms that might help you through your trial, through your
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suffering. Let's pray.
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Father in heaven, thank you for letting us look at this Psalm
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44. And Father, I believe this Psalm
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that Israel was defeated by some unknown military defeat.
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And I believe it was not because they were sinning, not because
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they had broken their covenant, but because you did something
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far beyond what they can understand.
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And Father, sometimes we Christians, we, we, we're, we're
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loyal to you, Father, we're attending church faithfully,
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we're tithing, we're serving, we're using our gifts.
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And yet sometimes we suffer and we don't understand it.
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Father, may this Psalm teach us that.
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We may never understand till that great day when you call us
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home to be with you or when the rapture comes.
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But Father, help us to trust you.
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Help us to endure the trial. Help us to persevere and help us
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not to complain. Help us to, to to turn it, to
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gain. Help us to count the blessings
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that we have. We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.