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A Study in Psalms - Psalm 86 · CCC West Covina

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Good evening. I want to welcome you back to
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our 7th Psalm this summer that we're looking at.
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You turn to Psalm 86 tonight, Psalm 86.
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I have a couple of announcements.
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We have a church wide potluck on June 29th.
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If you haven't signed up, but I know there's over 100 people
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that have signed up, please sign up as soon as possible because
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they got to order, they got to know how much chicken to order.
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So they want you to order, sign up tonight or Sunday so they can
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get the order in for that. VBS starts next Tuesday.
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So if your kids or grandkids haven't signed up, please get
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them signed up. And Rodger Flores will be
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teaching a class on Wednesday night, July 2nd on how to defend
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the faith. You can sign up for that in the
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lobby too. So we just sang, I think the
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greatest hymn ever recorded ever sung, Amazing Grace.
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And I think you know about the writer of it, John Newton, that
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he was a slave trader and I could talk a lot about his life,
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but he, you know, he was a slave trader.
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And in 191754 after becoming violently I'll on a sea voyage,
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he abandoned his life as a slave trader and he devoted his life
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to God's service. He was ordained as a Anglican
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priest in the year 1764 and he became quite a popular preacher
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and hymn writer. I'm told he wrote over 280 hymns
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and among them the great one, Amazing Grace.
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But I'm going to give you 8 things about the hymn Amazing
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Grace you might not know. OK, I didn't.
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I just got this from an author here and he mentions 8 things
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you didn't know about this great hymn.
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Amazing Grace #1 The Library of Congress has a collection of
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over 3000 recordings of Amazing Grace.
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These recordings are made on vinyl, cassette tape, CDs and
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other media between 1930 and the present time.
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This collection includes every imaginable genre of classical
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music, to country, to gospel, to rap to world music #2 One of the
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six verses. I'm sorry, one of the verses of
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Amazing Grace was actually stolen.
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The original version of Amazing Grace had 6 verses, but in 1910,
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an enterprising hymn book publisher named Edwin Othello
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Exel replaced the last three verses with the one that we just
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finished. When we've been there 10,000
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years, right? Shining as a sun.
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He took that from a hymn called Jerusalem Our Happy Home, which
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apparently had over 70 verses, so he probably thought nobody
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would notice it if he borrowed that.
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That last verse for Amazing Grace and #3 Plain Amazing Grace
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on bagpipes is a recent innovation.
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When I die, Tim's responsibility will be to my funeral here, my
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celebration service. Tim will have to find a bagpiper
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to play Amazing Grace at my funeral, but apparently that's
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very new. It was only in 1972 that the
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Royal Scots Dragoon Guards record an Amazing Grace on
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bagpipes, and that version charted on the Billboard top for
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4:40 for eight weeks. The original title wasn't
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Amazing Grace number four. The first title was called
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Faith's Review and Expectation, and it was written for a new New
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Year's Day sermon. And then #5 we don't know the
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original tune to Amazing Grace because I'm not a musician, but
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there were, there were different hymn books, tune books, and they
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would mix and match different songs.
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So they've gone back in the archives and apparently some of
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the tunes are very different than what we have.
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And number six, Amazing Grace became a very popular African
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American spiritual. Though interesting, it was
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written by a former slave trader.
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Amazing Grace has long been cherished by African American
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churches as a black gospel song and there have been powerful
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performances by different people over the year, including Aretha
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Franklin, Whitney Phillips and many others.
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Yet the words were written by a former slave ship captain named
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John Newton, 2 decades after he left the slave trade when he was
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an Anglican minister in the English Midlands.
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He would later move to London and he would make a.
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Key. Contribution to abolish the
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slave trade in England, Whitney Phillips said.
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I believe God wanted that song written just the way it was
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written so that we would be reminded that as a Christian,
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whether black or white, we are connected by God's.
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Amazing. Grace and #7 which was
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interesting to me. Amazing Grace is actually a
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paraphrase of the words of King David.
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When John Newton wrote The Amazing Grace, he wrote it to
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accompany a sermon on New Year's Day. 1773 and the text of that
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sermon was first Chronicles chapter 17 verses 16 and 17 and
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that's the passage where Nathan goes to David and tells David
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that God's promise that you will have a son to sit on your throne
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forever. So David went before the Lord
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and he said who am IO Lord God and what is my house that that
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was brought me here through. In other words, David's
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responding Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved a
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Wretch like me. He was a murderous, adulterous
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king who had found mercy and forgiveness.
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And now God promised he would extend his grace through David's
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descendants. That grace ultimately would be
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fulfilled in Jesus Christ as the greater Son of David.
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And lastly and #8 Amazing Grace is a spiritual practice.
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When John Newton wrote to him, he was part of his regular
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practice of self examination. He would pause at key moments to
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consider his sins and God's mercies in the past and make
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confession and receive forgiveness in the present, he
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wrote in his diary on January 1773.
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I am now in the 49th year of my age and may expect in the course
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of a few years at most to go, whence I shall no more return.
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May Thy grace keep me always waiting to lab point, and change
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shall come. Let's read Psalm 86 tonight.
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We have a superscription that says a prayer of David.
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There's one other Psalm, Psalm 17, that has the same
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superscription, 2 psalms that are called a Prayer of David.
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Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and
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needy. Preserve my life, for I am
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godly. Save your servant who trusts in
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you. You are my God.
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Be gracious to me, O Lord, for You do I cry all the day.
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Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do
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I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and
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forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call
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upon You. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer.
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Listen to my plea for grace in the day of my trouble.
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I call upon you for you. Answer me.
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There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any
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works like yours. All the nations you have made
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shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify
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Your name, for You are great and do wondrous things, You alone
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our God. Teach me your way, O Lord, that
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I may walk in Your truth. Unite my heart to fear Your
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name. I give thanks to You, O Lord my
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God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify Your name forever,
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for great is your steadfast love toward me.
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You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol, O God.
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Insolent men have risen up against me.
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A band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not see You
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before them. But you, O Lord, are a God,
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merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast
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love and faithfulness. Turn to me and be gracious to
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me. Give your strength to your
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servant and save the son of your maidservant.
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Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see
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and be put to shame, because you, O Lord, have helped me and
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comforted me. Let's pray.
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Father, we thank you tonight that we can read this great
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Psalm. Father, You are gracious and you
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are compassionate and you are loving.
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And I pray that everybody here tonight would have saving faith,
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saving faith that they'd have Jesus Christ in their heart.
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And may we learn more about David's Psalm tonight.
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May we leave here tonight being thankful for grace and being
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ready to tell people about grace in Jesus name, Amen.
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I said that we had a superscription, and I mentioned
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that one other Psalm, Psalm 17, calls it a prayer of David.
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And this Psalm is found in Book 3.
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There's five books in the book of Psalms, and book 3 consists
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of only 17 psalms. And this is the only one in Book
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3 by David. So one commentator called it the
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lonely prayer of David, the type of Psalm.
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It's a lament. And I know what some of you are
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thinking. Oh no, another lament.
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Seems like every Psalm we do as a lament.
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Well, most of the Psalms are laments, right?
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But I think you're going to see tonight that this is a lot
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different than just a normal lament.
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So I'll, I'll wait and you can see it in just a few minutes.
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You have three points tonight. I hope you have an outline.
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David's appeal, OK, David's adoration and David's
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adversaries. And we'll start with David's
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appeal versus one to seven. David's going to make an appeal
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to God. Now David's in trouble, but we
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don't know why until much, much later in the Psalm.
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So he's going to say 4 things here.
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Grant my prayer, guard my life, gladden my soul, and give me
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assurance. So First off, he says grant my
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prayer in verse 1. And I want you to notice a few
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things here. First off, when we read this
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Psalm, you might not notice it right away 'cause you'd have to
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read it in Hebrew. But the names of God, the names
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of God. In Psalms 86, Yahweh is
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mentioned four times in verses 1/6, 11, and 17.
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Yahweh is God, our Savior, God our Redeemer.
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Then the name for God, Elohim is mentioned four times in verse 2,
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verse 10, verse 12, and verse 14.
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And Elohim means God is the creator, the sustainer, the
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provider. And then in verse 15, we have
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the name for God L, which is just a generic name for God.
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But then we have the the name of God Adonai 7 times in verse
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3458912 and 15. And Adonai means God is the
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master, the owner. And then if you look at like
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verse 9, it says in verse 9 the name he says and you shall
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glorify your name. And that says that three times
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in verse 9, verse 11. And verse 12 and then you have
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the emphatic second person pronoun you 16 times.
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So if you added up all those, God's name is mentioned at least
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35 times in 17 verses. So the point is that the
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psalmist focuses more on God than his problem and the prayer
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that we think it is. But notice the names in English
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he says, oh Lord, that's Yahweh. He says in verse 20, you my God.
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He then says, oh Lord, in verse 3 that's Adonai.
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And then he says oh God in verse 10, that's Elohim.
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And then he says, oh Lord my God.
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So the way he uses the names of God.
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The second thing I want you to notice is that the name that
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David uses for himself. He uses a lot of different names
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for God, but in verses. 2, 4 and 16 he calls himself a servant
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verse two save your servant who trusts in you.
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You are my God. Now a better translation would
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be slave. That new translation, the legacy
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standard Bible, which I mentioned a lot, uses the change
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the name of servant in all the New Testament passages to slave,
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John MacArthur says. You know, a servant can quit, a
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servant can walk away and get a new master, but a slave cannot
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quit. David is a slave of God as we
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are slaves of Jesus Christ. So it's interesting how David
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calls himself a slave in contrast to God.
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And then I want to mention David's statement in verse 2.
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He says, for I am godly. When you first read that, it may
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sound like a prideful statement, but it's not.
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There are translations that say I am holy.
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I think the new living translation says I am devoted to
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you, but this is not a prideful statement.
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It's a declaration that David is the son of the covenant.
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He belongs entirely to the Lord. David is pleading for help on
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the basis of the covenant relationship with the Lord.
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And we kind of do the same when we say in Jesus name, I pray.
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So it's not a prideful statement.
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And then the fourth thing I want you to notice in this Psalm, and
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we'll go through them, the imperatives.
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What's an imperative? Well, it's a command, it's an
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exhortation, it's an entreaty. And in this Psalm there are 15
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of them. So David is going to give 15
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commands to God, 15 entreaties to God in 17 verses.
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So David knows the names of God and he knows the attributes of
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God which we'll look later, and he can command, ask, cry, or beg
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God for certain. Things.
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So he says incline your ear. That's the first imperative.
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Incline your ear 15 times in Psalms we see this words incline
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your ear. It's anthropomorphism because
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God doesn't actually have an ear.
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It's figurative language. God is omnipresent.
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He doesn't need to incline his ear.
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He he hears every word of every human in the whole world.
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One example, Psalm 17 six says I call upon you for you will
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answer me. Oh God, incline your.
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Ear to hear my words. The second imperative follows
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immediately in verse one and it says, answer me.
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That's the second imperative. I looked in the Psalms and I
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found at least 20 times the psalmist cries out, Answer me.
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Psalms 13 says Consider and answer me, O Lord, my God, light
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up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.
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Interesting, He says in verse one, answer me.
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And if you go to verse 7, he says in the day of trouble, I
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call upon you for you. Answer me, then let's look at
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some point to guard my life. Verse 2, he says preserve my
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life. That's the third imperative.
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Some translations say guard my life or protect my life, but the
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third imperative is preserve my life.
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Again, we don't know what the trouble is and we won't find out
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till many verses later. The 4th imperative, he just says
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save or save your servant. That's in Psalms over 50 Times
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Now the psalmist calls out, you know, to be saved at least 50
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times In Psalm 69, one it says save me, O God, for the waters
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have come up to my neck. And I've talked about this
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before. When we see the word salvation
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or save an Old Testament, it's talking about being delivered or
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or asking deliverance. You know the Philippian jailer
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in Acts chapter 16 verse 30 said what must I do to be saved?
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That Philippian jailers talking about salvation, but here David
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is talking about being saved from some crisis or some war or
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some something that's going on the 3rd subpoint.
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He says gladden my soul in verses 3 and 4.
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And here we have imperative #5 He says, be gracious to me.
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And the there are certain translations that some of you
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may have that say be merciful to me, but most of the better
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translation, the SV, the LSV, the NSV say the word gracious.
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And I think that's a better translation because mercy is the
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act of withholding deserved punishment, while grace is the
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in. The act of endowing unmerited
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favor. And David's here is asking God
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for unmerited favor. I don't deserve it, God, but
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please give me this favor. Help me.
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He's crying out. God gives us gifts we don't
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deserve, and that's what David's crying out.
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So he says here in verse 5, verse 3, be gracious to me and
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He'll say it again in verse 16, be gracious to me.
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And then in verse 6, He asked for grace in my translation.
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And then he mentions verse 15, grace.
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So four times in this Psalm we have grace, and that's why I
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title it the Psalm. Of grace tonight when you look
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through the the Psalms many times, he says in Psalm 62, be
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gracious to me, O Yahweh, for I am pining away.
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Psalms 913 be gracious to me, O Yahweh, see my affliction.
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Psalms 2516 turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am alone
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and afflicted. Psalm 31 Nine be gracious to me,
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O Yahweh, for I am in distress. Psalms 56 One be gracious to me,
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O God, for man has trampled on me.
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So anytime that you feel you're pining away, your suffering
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afflictions, your lone, you're in distress or being trampled
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on, you can do what David did and cry out.
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Be gracious to me, God. Then we have the 6th imperative
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gladdened my soul or gladdened the soul of your servant and
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there's four. And the NSP says make the soul
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of your servant be joyful instead of.
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Literally saying make me happy, make me joyful.
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God in the middle of a crisis of some type.
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You know, the heart of the Psalm is that God would be gracious to
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the Psalm. And David knew well the promises
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of God, the verses here, verses 1 and 2, they would go back to
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Numbers chapter 6, verses 24 to 27, where God spoke to Moses and
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he said, speak to Aaron and his son, saying, thus she shall
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bless the people of Israel. You shall say to them, the Lord
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bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine
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upon you, and be gracious to you.
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The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
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So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will
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bless them. That's what David is is
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referring back to. And then subpoint #4 give me
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assurance in verses 5 and 7. And here he he says.
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For you, O Lord, our good and forgiving about and steadfast
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love to all who call upon you. This is the Old Testament
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equivalent of Romans 1013. Romans 10/13 says For everyone
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who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
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Verse 5 is one of the most beautiful verses in in Psalms 86
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and even the Bible because God is described in triplet.
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Here he's described as good, ready to forgive, and abundant
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in steadfast love. And then he says in verse 6
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imperative #7 give ear. So in verse 1, he asked God to
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incline his ear, and here in verse 6, he says give ear.
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And then David's going to say, listen to my plea for grace.
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So imperative #8 is listen now God is omniscient.
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God is omnipresent. He knows all things.
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But David wants assurance of God answering prayer.
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And that's why he keeps repeating those.
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You know, a few weeks ago or last month, we looked at Psalms
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5 and Lord willing, you learn something about prayer.
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But I think tonight David has a very important lesson for us.
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And James Boyce, one of my favorite authors on the Psalms,
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points out something that Charles Spurgeon pointed out.
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And that's when we pray to God we should use arguments.
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Now you're wondering, what do you mean arguments?
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Well, maybe the word appeal is better.
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But if Spurgeon uses arguments, I think we can use arguments.
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We can we can express to God the reason why he should answer our
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prayers. This isn't for God's benefit,
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but it's for ours. You know, if we can't think of
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reasons for God to answer our prayers, it's probably the case
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that our reasons for asking are wrong and need to be revised.
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Like we may say God I need a new car, or God, I need a new job
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and you leave it at that. But what are the reasons you're
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asking for that? We'll notice in Psalms 86 what
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David does 8 times. He's going to use the word for
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it's preposition and eight times David answers his prayers by
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giving sound arguments to God. Why you should answer my prayer.
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They're really easy to find. You just got to look for the
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word for it's a preposition, which means because so 8 times
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they're there. So the first four are based upon
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David and his need. In verse one, David says, for I
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am poor and needy. He's crying out for mercy there
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#2 in verse 2 he says, for I am godly.
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David's saying, you know I'm devoted to you.
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I'm a child of yours, God. In verse three he says, for to
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you do I cry all the day? David's crying out to the God
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who answers prayer. And then in verse four he says,
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for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul?
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He's crying out to the one true God, the only God who can answer
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his prayers. So there's four reasons based
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upon his knee. Then secondly, there are four
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reasons based upon God and God's character.
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In verse 7 he says, for you answer me.
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It reminds me of James 516. The prayer of a righteous man is
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powerful and effective prayer works.
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And then in verse 10 he says, for you are great and do
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wondrous things. God is constantly doing good
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things each and every day. And then verse 13 he says for
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great is your steadfast love. You know, I'm a child of God,
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I'm saved and I'm redeemed. And then verse 17, my Bible
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actually says because but if you want to switch to the word for
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same thing because or for you Lord have helped me and comfort
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in me. You've helped me in the past.
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He's saying help me in the present.
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So I hope you look at all those fours and you can understand
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what David's doing. You can argue, as Spurgeon says,
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with God, don't just give him your prayer request.
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Give me a new job, you know, give me a new house.
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Give me give them the reason for it and and justify it.
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Or maybe you're asking for the wrong thing.
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So, you know, can there be any greater gift in the world than
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the gift of grace? And is there anybody beyond the
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reach of God's grace? I think.
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Not somebody on social media put out something and I saw this and
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it said the type of people God has used.
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Noah was once a drunk. Abraham was an old man.
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Isaac was a daydreamer. Jacob was sometimes a liar.
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Leah was not attractive. Joseph had been abused.
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Moses stuttered. Gideon was often afraid.
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Sampson was a womanizer. Rahab was a prostitute.
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Jeremiah and Timothy were young. David was an adulterous
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murderer. Elijah doubted.
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Life's value. Isaiah once preached naked.
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Jonah ran from God. Naomi was a widow.
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Job went bankrupt. Peter denied Christ three times.
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The disciples fell asleep while praying.
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Martha worried about everything. Mary Magdalene.
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Let's just say she had a bad reputation.
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The Samaritan woman had multiple divorces.
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Zacchaeus was a small man. Paul persecuted believers.
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Timothy had an ulcer. Lazarus was once dead.
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Do you think God can use you if he?
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Used all those people cannot we say like David said, God be
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gracious to me. We go from David's appeal in
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verses one to seven to David's adoration in verses 8 to 13
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point #2 David's adoration. And you know, you know the
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prayer model. We talked about it in Psalms 5.
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You can model prayer A for adoration, C for confession, T
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for Thanksgiving, S for supplication here and here David
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has adoration in the second paragraph of his prayer.
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And so we have three points here, The greatness of God, the
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guidance of God, and the goodness of God.
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So begins in in verses 8 to 10 to talk about the greatness of
24:41
God. And the first thing he comes
24:43
across is he wants everybody to know that there's only one true
24:46
God. He says there is none like you
24:49
among the gods. Now, that's small G Those would
24:52
be false gods in Exodus 810, which would be the second
24:56
plague, the plague of frogs. Moses said to Pharaoh, be as it
25:02
you. Say so that you may know that
25:04
there is no one like the Lord our God.
25:08
Then in Exodus 914, the 7th plague, which was hail, he Moses
25:13
said, for this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself
25:16
and on your servants and your people, so that you may know
25:20
that there is none like me in all the earth.
25:23
There's only a one true God. And then he says, O Lord, nor
25:28
are there any works like yours. Not only is the only the one
25:31
true God, He's the Creator God in Exodus 1511, which was a song
25:36
of Moses, they're singing who is like you, O Lord, O Lord among
25:40
the gods, small, the false gods, who is like you, majestic and
25:44
holiness, awesome, glorious in deeds, doing wonders.
25:48
There's no God that can do the wonders and works of God because
25:51
they're false gods. And then he says in verse 9, All
25:55
the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O
25:58
Lord, and they shall glorify your name.
26:01
Some commentators have taken this verse 9 that there should
26:04
be a messianic Psalm because it points to that great day and
26:08
Revelation 9. I think Revelation 79 is one of
26:11
my favorite verses of anticipating someday in heaven
26:15
when we stand there. It says in Revelation 79.
26:18
After this I looked and behold a great multitude that no one
26:21
could number, from every nation, tribe, people and languages
26:26
standing for the throne and before the Lamb.
26:29
Clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands and
26:32
crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who
26:36
sits on the throne and to the Lamb.
26:39
And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the
26:41
elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on
26:44
their faces before the throne and worship God, saying Amen,
26:48
blessing and glory and wisdom and Thanksgiving and honor and
26:51
power, and might be to our God forever and ever.
26:54
Amen. So all the nations someday will
26:57
come and bow and worship for the God, all the elect.
27:01
And then he says in verse 10, just a summary statement.
27:04
For you are great and do wondrous things.
27:08
You alone are God. There's no one else.
27:11
So he's talking about the greatness of God.
27:13
And then he moves on to the guidance of God.
27:16
And so now we have another imperative in verse 11.
27:20
Teach me your way. You know, we talked about this
27:23
in Psalms 27, didn't we? That even though David is is
27:28
lamenting about his enemies and seeking deliverance, he still
27:31
takes time to pray to God that God will teach him his ways and
27:34
give him an undivided heart. You know, let's be honest, most
27:37
of our prayer requests we see God immediately to answer some
27:41
emergency or need. Seldom do we pray God teach us
27:45
when we're praying, right? So David knew his heart was
27:49
capable of wandering and you know he would sin grievously
27:52
later and he knew he needed to go in God's way.
27:56
So if you remember when we talked about Psalm 27, we said
27:59
that great Psalm 119 mentions teach us, teach me your statutes
28:05
10 times. I won't read them all.
28:07
Psalm 1/19/12 says blessed are you, O Yahweh, teach me your
28:12
statutes. Psalms 1/19/68 you are good and
28:16
do good. Teach me your statutes.
28:19
Psalms One 19135 make your face shine upon your slave and teach
28:24
me your statutes. Psalms One 19171 Let my lips
28:28
pour forth praise for you. Teach me your statutes.
28:32
So true biblical wisdom consists of right thinking, join with
28:37
right believing, resulting in right living.
28:40
I mentioned in one of the messages, I think it was Psalms
28:42
27, that AW Tozer had that great quote that Satan's greatest
28:47
weapon. Is man's ignorance of the word
28:50
of God and you know he says David says in in verse 11 after
28:55
he says teach me, O Lord, that I may walk.
28:58
In your truth, you know David says says it here and Hezekiah
29:04
that great king would say in Second Kings 20, remember Isaiah
29:08
went to Hezekiah and says Hezekiah, you're going to die.
29:11
Get your house in order. And then Hezekiah would weep
29:14
before the Lord, and he would say to say to God, he's saying
29:18
Second Kings 20 verse 13. Remember now, O Yahweh, I
29:22
beseech you, how I have walked before you.
29:25
In truth. He says exactly what David says.
29:28
I walk with a whole heart. I've done what is good in your
29:31
sight. And Hezekiah wept greatly so.
29:34
He, he, he, he wants. David wants to be taught by God.
29:38
He wants to know the truth so he can walk in the truth.
29:41
And then we have the 10th imperative here.
29:43
Unite my heart to fear your name.
29:46
Unite my heart. Unite my heart means I just want
29:49
to have an undivided heart that is wholly fixed upon you, God.
29:53
And so Proverbs 10, Proverbs 910 says the fear of the Lord is the
29:58
beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One is
30:01
insight. So Dave is asking to be taught.
30:04
He's asking to know the truth, that he would fear God's name.
30:08
We know that the Holy Spirit teaches us, helps us on our
30:11
daily walk and helps us to fear the Lord.
30:15
And let's look at the goodness of God in verses 12 to 13.
30:19
David already said for you, O Lord our good in verse 5.
30:22
And here he just ends with giving thanks with a whole heart
30:26
and glorifying your name forever.
30:28
Last week when we finished Psalm 79, we finished by saying that
30:33
was ASAP. But ASAP said to give thanks
30:36
forever and give praise fervently when we.
30:38
Finished Psalm 79, but here in verse 12, David is giving thanks
30:42
and glorifying God's name forever.
30:44
Why? Well because God showed his love
30:47
to David time and time again, rescuing him.
30:50
God is so good and worthy of our adoration.
30:54
Let's look at point #3 David's adversaries.
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And we have 3 sub points here. The arrogant persecute me, the
31:02
Almighty protects me and the assurance that God gives me.
31:10
So David made an appeal in .1 for God to listen to him, and
31:16
then .2 he gave adoration to God yet.
31:20
Notice he hasn't actually petitioned God for why he's
31:24
praying yet. So he's given 13 verses and he
31:29
hasn't actually given the actual prayer request yet.
31:32
So that's a really good lesson for us, isn't it?
31:35
You know, when we pray, it's usually we go right to the
31:38
request. God keep me safe.
31:40
I'm driving to church tonight. God, please heal my sister.
31:43
God, give me a new job. We, we, we don't give him the
31:47
adoration. We don't give him the the what?
31:50
David's doing 13 verses. So finally after 13 verses, we
31:56
see the reason why David wrote this Psalm.
31:59
And he says in verse 14 insolent men have risen up against me.
32:04
A band of ruthless men are seeking his life.
32:08
You know, we don't know the occasion.
32:09
We can assume maybe Saul is chasing him.
32:12
We don't know, though. But as with most of David's
32:15
Psalms, there's always some enemy somewhere trying to kill
32:19
him. And that's because David is
32:22
God's chosen servant and Satan will do whatever he will use
32:25
Saul. He will use Israel's enemies to
32:27
try to kill David or destroy him.
32:30
So the arrogant are persecuting him and David has cried out for
32:34
help in verse 14. But notice verse 15.
32:36
What a contrast. The Almighty will protect me.
32:40
What a contrast. Verse 14 speaks of the ungodly.
32:44
Well, verse 15 speaks of our great God.
32:48
Does this verse sound familiar? But you, O Lord our God,
32:52
merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love,
32:56
steadfast love and faithfulness. It's a little bit like verse 5,
33:00
but this verse is a confession based upon Exodus 34 verse 6,
33:05
which is one of the most copied repeated verses in all the
33:09
Bible. Exodus 34, verse 6.
33:12
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, Now this is God
33:15
speaking about himself in Exodus 34, six, the Lord the Lord, a
33:20
God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and a bounty in
33:24
steadfast love and faithfulness. So it's first said in Exodus 34,
33:28
six Nehemiah Chapter 9, verse 17, we'll quote it.
33:33
And that's a prayer, by the way. Psalms one O 3, verse 8, we'll
33:36
quote this verse. Psalms 116, which we'll look at
33:40
in a couple weeks. Verse 5 quotes this.
33:43
Psalm 145, verse 8 quotes this verse.
33:46
And lastly, oh, I'm sorry, Joel 213 quotes it.
33:50
And lastly, you know who knew it?
33:52
Jonah. Jonah 4, verse 2.
33:56
So this is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible from
34:00
Exodus 34, six that God talks about himself and his character.
34:04
But turn to me with the Jonah. I think you know the story of
34:07
Jonah, right? Jonah four.
34:09
And we'll just look at verses 1 and 2 because Jonah's going to
34:13
quote this verse and you know the story of Jonah, right?
34:16
Chapter 1, he flees to Tarsus, disobeys God, right?
34:20
Chapter 2 He's swallowed by a fish and ultimately repents, and
34:24
a fish spits him on dry. Land.
34:26
Chapter 3, the greatest revival in the history of the world, an
34:31
entire city of pagans from the king, the greatest to the least
34:35
repents maybe 600,000 to 1,000,000 people.
34:39
So you come to chapter 4 and you think it would be a time of
34:43
rejoicing, celebrating, right? Well, no, because it says in
34:47
chapter 4 of Jonah 4 verse one. But it displeased Jonah
34:52
exceedingly and he was angry and he prayed to the Lord and said,
34:58
Oh Lord, is this this what I said when I was yet in my
35:01
country? This is why I made haste to flee
35:04
to Tarsus and notice what he says.
35:07
For I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow
35:13
to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from
35:16
disaster. So Jonah quotes Exodus 34, six
35:20
and also Psalms 86 verse 15. I love how Jonah says, I knew
35:26
you, I know you God, I know you're merciful, you're
35:31
gracious, you're slow to anger and you just gave salvation to
35:36
an entire city, the most ruthless pagans at that time in
35:40
the world. That's why Jonah didn't want to
35:42
go to Tarsus. This was a a city, Nineveh.
35:45
If you read history, they slaughtered so many countries
35:48
and so many people. They would cut the heads off of
35:50
all the people and they would stack them in pyramids at the
35:52
front gate of all the countries these they went to.
35:55
So it's no wonder, Jonah. Didn't want to go there.
35:57
But Jonah knows that God is gracious and merciful, slow to
36:01
anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, and he didn't want
36:04
that. So chapter 4 is interesting.
36:07
So you know, this I believe is Psalms 86.
36:12
Verse 15 is one of the greatest verses in the Bible.
36:15
And you say, well, they're all great, but it teaches us so much
36:19
about God. You could preach a whole sermon
36:21
on this one verse. He says God is merciful, mercy
36:25
is God giving us. Is God not giving us what we
36:30
deserve? Then he also says grace and a
36:32
lot of people put mercy and grace together, but grace is God
36:36
giving us something we do not deserve.
36:39
We deserve death. We deserve the penalty of hell.
36:41
But God is full of grace and he gives us salvation.
36:45
He gives us help. Then he says, slow to anger.
36:47
That's an attribute of God. And that highlights the patience
36:51
of God, the willingness of God to delay judgment.
36:54
God could judge anybody tonight. Today he does that, but he's
36:58
also very slow in in in his anger.
37:02
And it gives people an opportunity to repent and turn
37:06
back to God. And then he mentions the
37:08
steadfast love of God. You know, for God so loved the
37:11
world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
37:15
believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.
37:19
And then #5 he talks about the faithfulness of God, His
37:22
unwavering commitment to His own nature, His word, and His
37:26
promises. So, you know, every time you
37:28
read your Bible, every time you read your Bible, you need to ask
37:32
questions like, is there a sin I need to confess?
37:35
Is there a promise I need to claim?
37:37
Is there a principle I learn? But the most important thing is
37:42
ask the question, what does this chapter, this paragraph, or this
37:47
verse teach me about God? Now, if you're in the New
37:50
Testament, what does it teach me about Jesus and the Holy Spirit?
37:54
Not that they aren't in the Old Testament, but the Old Testament
37:57
is mostly about God. So every time you read your
37:59
Bible, you know you ought to have a pen and paper when you
38:01
read your Bible 2 or a notebook. But ask yourself, maybe it's
38:05
just one verse, maybe it's a paragraph.
38:07
What does this teach me about God?
38:09
And you see. Here Psalms 86. 15-5 Attributes
38:14
about our great God, 5 characteristics about our great
38:17
God. But if you go back to Psalms 86
38:21
and let me go back. There's a lot more and it's
38:27
interesting. That how well.
38:28
David knows them, but Psalms 86 and.
38:32
I may not even have them all. But I mentioned he talks about
38:35
grace in verses 3. And 15 and 16 and if you have an
38:40
ESV translation in verse 6 and then he says in verse 2, who
38:47
save your servant? Who trusts in you?
38:49
Well, David could trust in God. Because.
38:51
God is infinite. We're fine.
38:53
We're finite. You know.
38:55
He's the creator, we're the creature, but he also trusts in
38:58
God because God is immutable. God doesn't change, right?
39:01
And then he says in verse 5. God is.
39:03
Good God is always good, and He always gives good gifts, right?
39:07
And then he says in verse 4. Forgiving.
39:10
Forgiving would go to the holiness of God.
39:12
It would go to the justice of God.
39:14
That's another attribute. And then of course steadfast
39:17
love in verse 513 and 15. And then in verse 8 he says.
39:22
There's no God. Like you, that's the
39:24
transcendence of God. God transcends his creation and
39:28
everything there is under it. And then in verse 10 he says,
39:31
you are great and you do wonderful things that would
39:35
speak to the sovereignty of God. And then he says in verse 11.
39:39
Teach. Me your ways that would teach to
39:41
the wisdom of God because God is all wise and we want we we can
39:45
learn some of that wisdom and then he talks about truth.
39:48
I want to walk in truth in verse. 11 God is truth, that's
39:52
another attribute of God. And then we mentioned in verse
39:55
15. Mercy, slow to anger, grace and
40:00
patience and faithfulness there. And in verse 16 he talks about
40:04
God. 'S strength, that would be the
40:05
Nippon omnipotence of God, the power of God, and verse 17 he
40:10
says. You have helped.
40:11
Me and you know me. That would be omniscience of
40:13
God, and if he added all those up together, it would just go to
40:17
the incomprehensibility of God. It's almost impossible to
40:21
understand who God is, but the more we look.
40:25
At the. Psalm.
40:26
The more we look at Scripture, we learn about God.
40:29
You know, when I when I see all these attributes of God, it
40:32
makes me want to sing that hymn. And we sing this hymn here.
40:35
I stand in awe of you. We sing that on Sunday quite
40:37
often. And the first first words say
40:40
about God. You are beautiful beyond
40:42
description, too marvelous for works words, too wonderful for
40:47
comprehension, like nothing ever seen.
40:50
Or heard. Who can grasp your infinite
40:52
wisdom? Who can phantom the depth of
40:55
your love? Excuse me?
40:59
Like mess. Up your page, you are beautiful
41:02
beyond description. Majesty A throned above.
41:05
So you see, even though David is writing.
41:07
This Psalm about a crisis, he waits till verse 14 to tell us
41:12
about his crisis. So this Psalm is more about God,
41:17
his character. His.
41:18
Names and his attributes. Knowing these attributes, the.
41:23
Apostle Paul would say in the New Testament, in Romans 2,
41:26
four. Or do you presume?
41:28
That. The riches and kindness and
41:30
forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is.
41:34
Meant to lead you to repentance and let's look at some Point C
41:38
the. Assurance that God gives us
41:41
verses 16 and 17. Here David is crying out for
41:44
God's favor, God's strength, and God's deliverance.
41:48
So we have imperatives #11 which he says turn to me, turn to me
41:55
in verse 16. And then he has the repetitive
41:58
1. Be.
41:58
Gracious to me again, that's the 12th imperative.
42:02
So in verse 3. David could say be gracious to
42:04
me. And now verse 16, David says it
42:06
again. Grace might be the sweetest and
42:09
most beautiful word in the available vocabulary.
42:13
So we can see why David is continually at crying out for
42:16
God to be gracious to him. Grace is a favor from God we
42:20
don't deserve. But David says be gracious to
42:23
me, so he cries out for God's favor in verse. 16 Then he says,
42:28
Ask for God's strength there. He says, Give strength to your
42:31
sermon. So give strength to your servant
42:33
is the 13th imperative that we have in this Psalm, and when I
42:37
read that it reminds. Me what Isaiah said about God
42:41
says to Isaiah and Isaiah. 40 verse 21 to 31 Very common
42:45
passage. Have you not known?
42:47
Have you not? Heard the Lord is the
42:49
everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth.
42:52
He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is
42:55
unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and
42:59
to him who has no might he increases strength.
43:02
Even youth shall faint and be. Weary young men shall fall
43:05
exhausted, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their
43:08
strength. They shall mount up with wings
43:10
of eagles. They shall run and not be weary.
43:13
They shall walk and not be faint.
43:15
I think I mentioned once more 30 years ago when the youth group
43:19
of Christ Community Church, we would Tom smaller worship
43:22
leader, would have us sing that song in Isaiah. 40 We would sing
43:25
that. So David is calling out for
43:27
God's strength to be able to fight his enemies.
43:30
So he calls for God's favor, he calls for God's strength, and
43:34
then he calls for God's deliverance.
43:36
So imperative #14 he says. Save.
43:39
Or, he says, save the son. Of your.
43:41
Maidservant, which is the same imperative as #4 so be gracious
43:46
to me as listed. Twice.
43:47
Save as listed twice and what he says save, save the the son of
43:54
your maidservant. That's an interesting word usage
43:57
of word. Psalm 116, verse 16 says O.
44:01
Lord, I am your. Servant, I am your servant, the
44:03
son of your maidservant. What does that mean?
44:06
Well, children. Born.
44:08
To slaves were considered especially faithful because
44:12
they're brought up in the master's house.
44:14
So David was the Lord's faithful.
44:16
Servant, and it was the master's duty to.
44:18
Protect. Him and to deliver him from this
44:21
trouble that. He's in.
44:23
And the number four? God's assurance.
44:25
God's assurance. Here we have the last imperative
44:28
#15 He says. Show me a sign of your favor,
44:31
God, OK, Because he. Wants that.
44:34
He wants two things. Here, he says for those who hate
44:38
me may see and be put to shame. So he.
44:40
Wants condemnation for the enemies.
44:43
He wants his enemies to be put to shame.
44:45
And then he says, Lord, you've helped.
44:47
Me and comforted me David just wants comfort there's two things
44:50
he wants condemnation for his enemies and comfort for me so
44:56
let's just talk an. Application ending I mentioned
44:58
about praying, mentioned about looking at the names of God, the
45:01
attributes of God. But let's just talk about grace
45:03
#1 grace. We get the word chorus from
45:08
that, which means to rejoice. We get the English word charity
45:11
from it. It was Augustine who said.
45:13
Beggars. Need charity even as sinners
45:16
need grace, for we are all spiritual poppers outside of
45:19
Christ, but God gives where he finds empty hands.
45:24
So it's a word which you know, means many different things.
45:28
Some people say that the word grace is probably the greatest
45:32
word in scriptures, even greater than love, because grace is love
45:37
in action. And then there are many.
45:39
Types of Grace 11 commentator I read listed 15 types of grace.
45:45
I think that may be a little bit too many, but I'll just review
45:47
four types of. Grace.
45:48
With you tonight. The First off, of course, is.
45:51
Common. Grace This is the grace that God
45:54
gives to all mankind, believers and unbelievers, Jesus said in
45:59
Matthew 545. So you may be sons of your.
46:02
Father. Who is in heaven?
46:04
For He makes the sunrise on evil, and on the good he.
46:09
Sends. Rain on the just and on the
46:11
unjust. Every time I read that verse, I
46:14
think of of India, I think of Thailand, I think of Myanmar.
46:17
God gives rain because there's 3 1/2 billion people.
46:21
Almost half the people in the world eat rice last.
46:25
Week I had a pastor from. Myanmar at my house.
46:28
He's studying at the Masters seminary and you know, he wants
46:31
rice for breakfast, he wants rice for lunch, and he wants
46:34
rice for dinner. Some of the Filipinos here might
46:36
understand that tonight, but God gives grace to half the people
46:41
in the world, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, to grow rice.
46:47
Almost 4 billion people, they don't know him, but that's
46:49
common grace. God gives grace.
46:52
He gives us grace every day to unbelievers.
46:55
He doesn't know anybody. Another day of life, He could
46:58
judge them and send them to hell instantly.
47:01
But God gives common grace. But that common grace does not
47:04
save you. And that leads us to the second
47:06
grace, and that's saving grace. And I think Tim read the verse
47:09
tonight. You know, Ephesians 28 and 9.
47:12
For by grace you can save through faith.
47:14
This is not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not by
47:18
works, so that no one can boast. So saving grace initiates our.
47:22
Journey, God gives us the grace and we need that saving grace if
47:26
we're to be saved. And I trust tonight that every
47:29
person here has saving grace. If not, see me afterwards or if
47:33
you have any questions. But once we have saving grace,
47:37
we then have sanctifying grace and this is the grace that
47:40
transforms us to be in the likeness of Jesus. 2nd
47:44
Corinthians 13 is that, but First Thessalonians 4 three says
47:49
this is the will of God, your sanctification that you abstain
47:53
from sexual immorality, and Titus 2:11 and 12:00.
47:57
Says. For the grace of God has
47:58
appeared, bringing salvation for all.
48:01
People. Training us to renounce
48:04
ungodliness, worldly passions and to live self controlled,
48:08
upright and godly lives in the present age.
48:11
So there's common grace, There's saving grace, there's
48:14
sanctifying grace, and then there's sustaining grace.
48:18
And I think that's what David is crying out in this Psalm 86.
48:22
He says in Psalms 86, three, be gracious to me, O Lord, He says
48:27
in Psalms 8616, turn to me and be gracious to me.
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And this is what Philippians. Paul.
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Would say in Philippians 1/6 and I'm sure of this that he that's
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God or the Holy Spirit who began a good work in you will.
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Bring it. To completion on the day of
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Christ so we can cry out. For.
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Sustaining grace. This is the grace that helps us
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through trials, through persecutions, through suffering.
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We can say to God, be gracious to me like David when he says be
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gracious to me for I am poor and needy.
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Be gracious to me for I am godly.
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Be gracious to me for to you I cry all the day.
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Be gracious to me for you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
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Be gracious to me for you. Answer.
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Me. Be gracious to me, for you are
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great and do wondrous things. Be gracious to me, for great is
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your steadfast love. Be gracious.
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To me, for you O. Lord have helped me and
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comforted me. So just a little bit about Grace
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and the third. Thing tonight we need to get to
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know this God. Of grace.
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So you got a homework assignment.
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You need to memorize Psalms 86 verse 15, which I said is one of
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the greatest verses, if not one of the greatest verses in Psalms
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or the Old Testament in the Bible.
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But you, O Lord, are a God, merciful and gracious, slow to
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anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
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Memorize that verse, meditate upon that verse and the five
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attributes and you could just, you can meditate on that verse
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for hours at a time. And #4 we can leave here
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tonight. Proclaiming God's grace.
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To other people. We're going to have vacation
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Bible school next week. I hope you pray for the
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children, the parents, the grandparents who bring kids that
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they would know God's saving grace.
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We were passing out Flyers on Saturday.
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And as I'm walking up the street, I noticed that, you
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know, most of the homes over there, I think are older people
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and a lot of them are Asian, Chinese.
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I don't know. And I'm assuming you know how
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hard it is for an older person to come to Christ.
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And when when I was driving around making a map to pass out
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the Flyers, there were like 50 to 100 people walking,
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exercising, and most of them were Asian.
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And I'm looking at a lot of them.
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They're old. And then how can we reach them
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for Christ? Because they've probably been a
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Buddhist for 7080 years, a lot of them.
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But we can try to proclaim to them God's grace.
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And we need to. So may Vacation Bible School
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lead people to Christ. In one month from yesterday,
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we'll be in Argentina, 19 people from Christ Community Church.
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And we're going to blame God's grace because you know, Lance
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has said from this pulpit many times, there's only two
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religions in the world, evangelical Christianity, that
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believes it's salvation through grace alone, through Jesus
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Christ alone, or all the religions of the.
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World. Jews have their commandments,
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Buddhists have their five pillars, Muslims have their five
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pillars. You know, even there's
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Christians that have works. So it's either by grace or by
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works. 2 religions Galatians 216 says yet we know that a person
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is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus
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Christ, so we also have believed.
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In Jesus Christ in order to be justified by faith in Christ and
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not by works of the law because by works of the law no one will
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be justified. So may we leave here tonight
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proclaiming grace to others as we leave.
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Let's pray. Father, thank you tonight for
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Psalms 86. It's we can just talk about your
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names. We can talk about your
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attributes and then we see David can give.
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You 15 commands God because you are so gracious to.
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US. Father, you gave us common
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grace, but I believe you gave everyone here saving grace, and
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I pray that everyone here today would know that Jesus Christ is
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Lord and Savior and that they believe in Him and confess in
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Him and have Jesus Christ in their heart tonight.
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Father, we ask that you help. Us with that sustaining grace,
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that we would be holy. And there not be anything in
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our. Lives.
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That would cause you to look in shame upon us.
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May we live holy lives with that sanctifying grace.
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And then, Father, we ask for anybody.
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Tonight. Who's undergoing a time of
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difficulty, a time of trouble? Father, there are many prayer
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requests in the in the prayer. There are many people hurting in
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our church or friends and family, but we pray, as David
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said, we could cry out to God. Be gracious to me.
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And May God answer that and give us grace, sustaining grace, till
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that great day he comes. In Jesus name, Amen.