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A Study in Psalms - Psalm 79 · CCC West Covina

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The beginning night by talking about a a New York Times article
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and the journalist was out Alex Stone, and he tells a story
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about how the executives at the Houston airport were faced with
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lots and lots of complaints about long waits at the baggage
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claim. Have you ever been there?
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Calcutta, India. You'd wait two hours, but
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apparently 8 minutes at Houston's.
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A long time, but they they had so many complaints about the
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wait time at baggage claim at Houston airport that they hired
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consultants. And so the first thing they did
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was they hired a bunch more baggage handlers and that
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reduced the wait time to an industry beating average of 8
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minutes to wait for your luggage.
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But the complaints continued. So it made no sense.
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So until the executive discovered that on the average
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passengers took only one minute when they got off their plane to
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walk the baggage claim and there they would sit and wait for
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678910 minutes. And that was the reason for the
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complaints. The walk time was not the
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problem, it was the remaining 7 empty minutes of staring at that
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baggage carousel waiting for your bags that was driving
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people crazy and causing them to complain.
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So, in a burst of innovation, the executives move the arrival
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gates farther away from the baggage claim.
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Passengers now had to walk much farther to get their bags, but
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often when they arrived, the bags were waiting for them.
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Problem solved. The complaints went down South.
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In the same article, Stone interviewed and Massachusetts
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Institute of Technology somebody named Richard Larson, who is
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apparently the world's leading expert on waiting in lines.
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I didn't know there was such a person to discover.
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The psychology behind the waiting and what happened at the
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Houston airport makes a perfect illustration, said Richard
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Larson. The length of our weight is not
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as important as what we're doing while we wait.
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Often the psychology of queuing is more important than the
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statistics of waiting itself. Essentially, we tolerate
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occupied time. For example, walking to the
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baggage claim is OK, but unoccupied time?
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Sitting at the baggage claim, waiting.
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That's where we have the problem.
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Give us something to do while we wait, and the wait becomes
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endurable. That is why so often waiting on
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God feels like unoccupied time. We wait, but what's really
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happening up there in heaven? What's going on?
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Is God actually doing anything? Waiting on God implies that we
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need to develop a new perspective of what God is doing
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and what we can do while we wait on Him.
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Tonight's Psalm gives us a new perspective of what to do while
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we wait. You know, when we pray, of
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course, God can answer three ways, yes, no, and wait.
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And it's usually the third category of waiting that can be
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very, very hard for us. Our psalmist tonight, he may
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have had to wait 70 years. He probably was dead before the
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prayers were actually answered in many cases.
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So let's read Psalm 79 if you haven't turned there.
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Psalm 79 follows Psalm 78, which is the second longest Psalm in
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the Psalter with 72 verses. But tonight our Psalm only has
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13 verses. Psalm 79 says a Psalm of ASAP.
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Oh God, the nations have come into your inheritance.
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They have defiled your holy temple.
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They have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
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They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of
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the heavens for food, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts
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of the earth. They have poured out their blood
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like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury
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them. We have become a taunt to our
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neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us.
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How long, O Lord, will you be angry forever Will your jealousy
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burn like fire? Pour out your anger on the
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nations that do not know you and on the kingdoms that do not call
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upon your name, for they have devoured Jacob and laid waste
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his inhabitation. Do not remember against us our
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former iniquities. Let your compassions come
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speedily to us, for we are brought very low.
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Help us so, God of our salvation, for the glory of Your
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name deliver us and atone for our sins for Your name's sake.
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Why should the nation say, where is their God?
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Let the avenging and the outpouring blood of Your
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servants be known among the nations before our eyes.
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Let the groans of the prisoners come before You, according to
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your great power. Preserve those doomed to die.
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Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors, the taunts with
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which they have taunted you, O Lord.
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But we, your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give
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thanks to you forever. From generation to generation
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will recount your praise. Father in heaven, thank you for
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this Psalm tonight. May we leave here tonight
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knowing more of You, understanding that sometimes you
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make us wait and that we can never completely understand what
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you're doing up there in heaven in Jesus name, Amen.
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The title of our Psalm is how long, O Lord.
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It's actually a very common theme in the Psalms.
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Psalm 6 verse 3 says, and my soul is greatly dismayed, but
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you, O Yahweh, how long? And then of course, you've got
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the the other Psalm that's called the how long Psalm, Psalm
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13. Tom Mason preached a message on
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this in 2000 and four times in the first verses it says, How
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long will Yahweh? Will you forget me forever?
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How long will you hide your face from me?
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How long shall I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my
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heart all day? How long will the enemy exalt
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over me? Psalm 3517 says Lord, how long
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will you look on? And then Psalm 74, Ken says, how
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long, O God, will the adversary reproach?
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Will the enemy spurn your name forever?
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Psalm. And of course Psalm 79 five,
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which we just read. Psalm 80 verse 4 says, O Yahweh
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of hosts, how long? Psalm 82 two, how long will you
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judge the unrighteous? Psalm 8946 how long O Yahweh
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will you hide yourself forever? Psalm 90 verse 13 says return O
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Yahweh, how long will it be? And lastly Psalm 94 verse 3 says
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how long shall the wicked, O Yahweh, how long shall the
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wicked exalt? So there are lots of Psalms that
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deal with waiting on the Lord. We have a superscription above
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your Psalm 79 which just says a Psalm of ASAP.
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We know that ASAP wrote 12 Psalms.
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Psalm 50 and then Psalm 73 through 83, we know he's the
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worship leader in the Temple. He may not be one person, He
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might be a series of Aesop's who passed down the worship leader
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in the temple, but it's very interesting that he wrote 12
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Psalms and three of them Psalm 74, the Psalm.
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Tonight we're going to look at Psalm 79 and Psalm 80 are all
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about the destruction of the temple.
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It obviously left a very painful mark on ASAP when he saw the
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temple destroyed to write 3 psalms about it.
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So the type of Psalm that we're looking at tonight, it's a
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lament Psalm, but it's not an individual lament.
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It's a community Lamb. The whole community, the whole
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nation of Israel is lamenting what ASAP is saying here.
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You have an outline, I hope. And there are five types of
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prayers there. A prayer of lamentation, verses
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one to four prayer restoration, verses 5 to 8, a prayer for
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glorification, verse 9, pray for vengeance, verses 11:50, and a
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prayer of adoration. Lastly, verse 13, let's look at
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point #1A prayer of lamentation. And I've got 3 sub points there.
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The situation is desolate. We'll look at that number sub
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point number one in verse one. It just says, oh God, the
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nations have come into your sanctuary.
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They have defiled Your holy temple.
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They have laid Jerusalem in rooms.
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So from the opening verse of Psalm 79, it appears that the
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historical context for this Psalm is the time of the
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Babylonian invasion and the destruction of the temple in 587
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BC. You know, as the Kingdom of
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Judah declined, their kings and their leaders became less and
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less devoted to the Lord. There, you know, there were a
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few godly kings like ASA, Josiah, Joash, Hezekiah.
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But foreign alliances, idolatry, unbelief combined to weaken the
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Kingdom and ripen it for judgment.
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The sins of the fathers accumulated until God could hold
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back his wrath no longer. So God sent Nebuchadnezzar and
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the Babylonian army to destroy Jerusalem.
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What's great about Psalm 79 is we have an historical account
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with his Psalms. You know, David, there are 14
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Psalms about David's fleeing Saul and David's trials.
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So it's always great when you can read the Psalm and then go
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to 1st and Second Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings and read about it.
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But it's what really interesting that the Holy Spirit records the
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destruction of Jerusalem not once, not twice, not three
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times, but four times in Scripture, in Second Kings 25,
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in Second Chronicles 36, and in Jeremiah twice, Jeremiah 39, one
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to 10, and then the whole chapter of Jeremiah 52.
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So God is what when He says something four times, it's
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really important that we look at it.
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But I want to read tonight not from those four accounts.
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I want to read to you Lamentations chapter 1, verses 1
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to 11. You know, if there was a book of
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the Bible that would that you can make a horror movie about,
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it would be Lamentations. Have you read Lamentations?
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You got to have APG rating or an MA rating with that.
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It's brutal, it's dark, it's dreary.
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So let's look at Lamentations chapter one, OK.
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In the Septuagint, the New Testament Greek version written
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maybe 200 years before Christ, it says that they're they have a
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they have a written before the lamentation.
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It says, and it came to pass after Israel had been carried
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away captive and Jerusalem had become desolate, that Jeremiah
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sat weeping and lamentated with this lamentation over Jerusalem
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and said, OK, our Bible doesn't say that, but the Septuagint
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does. But Lamentations chapter one,
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verse 1 to 11 will read. It says how lonely sits the city
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that was full of people. How like a widow has she become.
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She who was great among the nations, she was a Princess
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among the provinces, has become a slave.
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She weeps bitterly in the night with tears on her cheeks.
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Among all her lovers she has known to comfort her.
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All her friends have dealt treacherously with her.
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They have become her enemies. Judah has gone into exile
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because of affliction and hard servitude.
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She dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting
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place. Her pursuers have all overtaken
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her in the midst of her distress. the Rose to Zion
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mourn, for none come to the festival.
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All her gates are desolate. Her priest groan.
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Her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers
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bitterly. Her foes have become the head.
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Her enemies prosper because the Lord has afflicted her for the
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multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone away
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captive before the foe. From the daughter of Zion all
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Her Majesty has departed. Her Princess have become like
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deer that find no pastor. They fled without strength
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before the pursuer. Jerusalem remembers the days of
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her affliction and wanderings, all the precious things that
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were hers. From days of old, when her
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people fell into the hand of the foe and there was none to help
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her. Her foes gloated over her.
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They mocked at her downfall. Jerusalem sinned grievously.
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Therefore she became filthy. All who honored her despise her,
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for they have seen her nakedness.
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She herself groans and turns her face away.
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Her uncleanliness was in her skirts.
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She took no thought of the future.
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Therefore her fall is terrible. She has no comforter.
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Oh, Lord, behold my affliction for the enemy as triumph.
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The enemy has stretched out his hands over all her precious
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things, for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary.
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Those whom you forbade to enter your congregation, all our
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people grown as they search for bread, they trade their
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treasures for food to revive their strength.
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Look, O Lord, and see, for I am despised.
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And we could go on and read chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4
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and chapter 5. And it just gets worse and
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worse. But the, the, the, the situation
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is absolutely desolate there. The extent of the, the
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destruction was devastating. Remember, this was the third
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time that Nebuchadnezzar had come and waged war against
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Jerusalem, and this time it took him over 2 1/2 years to conquer
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Jerusalem. So when they did break the walls
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down, they burned every building, they burned the
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temple, they destroyed everything, and they slaughtered
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most of the people. The people that were were
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slaughtered. The temple was defiled and
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burned to the ground, and the holy city of Jerusalem was
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destroyed and left in rooms. Some point B, verses 2 and
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three, the Saints are dead. It says in verse two to three
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they give in your bodies to the servants, to the birds of the
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heaven for food, the flesh of your faithful, to the beasts of
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the earth. Blood was poured out like water.
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So even in death there was no closure for the shame and
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destruction. The dead bodies were for the
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food for birds. The flesh, the beasts of the
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earth would eat it. It says blood was poured out
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like water, but what a statement that is.
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And there was no burial. We mentioned in the last few
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Psalms that in if you did not bury the body, that was
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considered a very, very desecrating thing when bodies
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weren't buried. There just wasn't anybody to
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bury the bodies. You know, when we look at the
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last in Jeremiah 52 verses 28 to 31, it tells us that only 745
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people went in exile. And then if you take the X, the
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597 BC, it said 832 people were taken including Ezekiel.
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And then if you look at six O 5 BC, over 3000 people were taken
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including Daniel. So if you add up those 3
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numbers, it comes to about 4600 people that were taken captive.
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But Second Kings chapter 24 says 10,000 people were taken
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captive. So trying to reconcile how many
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people were actually taken a lie back to Babylon his heart.
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It could be Judah was 4600 and all Israel was 10,000.
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Don't know. But the point I want to make is
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very few people were taken captive.
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Most people were killed or they died of starvation before
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Nebuchadnezzar even broke through the walls.
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Estimates of Jerusalem's population or anywhere from
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75,000 people to 345,000 people. So not a lot of people were
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taken captive. Most people were killed.
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The righteous with the unrighteous at some Point C The
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survivors are despised. So just a few people that lived
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were taken captive, probably mostly young like Daniel and
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Ezekiel, young men, young girls to be slaves.
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Only the poorest of the land were left.
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The captives that were left were object of reproach and scorn.
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And we recently we looked at another Psalm.
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We read that Psalm 137, that really dark Psalm that says when
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the captives were by the waters of Babylon, there we sat down
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and wept, when we remembered Zion on the willows there we
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hung our liars. For there are captors required
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us songs, and our tormentors mercing sing us the songs of
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Zion. So even if you lived, you're
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probably were a slave and you were tormented, you were
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tortured, you were taken back to Babylon.
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So what do we learn from this first 4 verses?
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Why was this wrath poured out? Why don't we go back to the
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beginning and think about it for a minute?
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You know, if you had time tonight, which we don't, to read
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Deuteronomy 28. Have you read Deuteronomy 28?
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It's quite an interesting chapter.
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The 1st 14 verses are all about blessings for obedience.
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If you will obey, God will bless you, your crops, your family,
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your cows, everything. 14 verses on blessings, but then the next
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54 verses are about curses for disobedience.
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That's why I can't read it tonight.
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It's a long, long chapter, but those 54 verses for disobedience
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list the horrors that we read in Lamentations that if you disobey
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me and follow idolatry and all those sins, I'm going to do
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these things to you. So Israel was warned in
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Deuteronomy 28 even before they entered the promised land.
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And then you go to, by the way, it says in verse 45 of
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Deuteronomy 28 because you did not obey the voice of the Lord
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your God. So they were warned by Moses in
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Deuteronomy. Then you go to Joshua and that
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last chapter and you all know that wonderful verse.
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Joshua 2415 says Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in
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sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods of your
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father's serve beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the
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Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes
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to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether
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the gods of your father's served in the region beyond the river,
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or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.
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But As for me in my house, we will serve the Lord.
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And then the people respond, in Joshua 24, verse 18, we also
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will serve the Lord, and then verse 21, but we will serve the
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Lord. And in verse 24, the Lord our
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God, we will serve and obey his voice.
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And Israel did obey. They obeyed all the days of
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Joshua and the elders that outlive Joshua.
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But then you know what's the next book after Joshua judges.
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And in judges they would begin to obey.
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Then they would serve the idols of the Four Nations.
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God would let nations conquer them and put them in slavery.
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Then they would repent. God would raise up a judge who
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would deliver them. And you had cycle after cycle,
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judge after judge. And then Israel had Saul as
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king. He was not a good king, but he
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was followed by two pretty good kings, David and Solomon,
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although Solomon did not finish well.
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And then we had the split Kingdom.
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Judah had 20 kings, 8 of them were good.
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So that leaves 12 that were bad. Israel had 20 kings, the
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southern king, the northern Kingdom and all of them were
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bad. The consequences for Israel's
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sin was Jerusalem was destroyed, the temple was burned to the
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ground, people were either taken captive or slaughtered and
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reminds me of what Nahum said in Nahum chapter one verse 3.
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The Lord is slow to anger and in great power, and the Lord will
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by no means clear the guilty. He was a patient, kind,
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compassionate God who brought in the promised land, but they
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rejected him and God judged Israel.
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Let's look at subpoint to a prayer for restoration and we've
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got 3 sub points there. And #1 God restain your anger
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toward us. And there I want to he says, how
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long will you be angry? The first part of verse 5, And
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how long will you be jealous? How long will you be angry and
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how long will you be jealous? In verse 5, verse one began
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began with the lament crying, how God, Oh God, I'm sorry, Oh
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God. Now in verse 5, ASAP says as he
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prays, Oh Lord, O Elohim, the first searching question or the
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first question we have in the Psalm is how long, O Lord, will
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you be angry forever? It's a cry from a wounded
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person. Can't imagine the horrors that
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ASAP has seen. Would assume that ASAP was
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captive. ASAP probably was taken to
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Babylonian, but he saw the slaughter.
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He saw the temple desecrated. He saw Jerusalem burned.
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And what he doesn't know is that the sentence is going to be 70
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years. But he knows God is angry and he
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knows God must punish sins. But the people here are
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suffering greatly, and he describes God's anger here as a
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consuming fire when he says the next point.
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How long will you be jealous? How will your jealous?
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Will your jealousy burn like fire?
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Imagine when he wrote this that Jerusalem is just on fire
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because they burned every building to the ground.
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Now can God really be jealous? This doesn't refer to jealousy
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like you and me. A boy is jealous when his girl
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leaves him or takes another boyfriend.
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But this is a fervent zeal of God.
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It's it's jealousy exclusive to God that we don't have.
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God's jealousy is often linked to his desire for exclusive
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worship and his rejection of idolatry.
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Exodus 25 says you shall not bow down to them or serve them, for
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I the Lord your God am a jealous God.
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Isaiah 42 says 42. Verse 8 says I am the Lord.
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That is my name, my glory I give to no other nor my praise to
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carved idols and Deuteronomy 424 says for the Lord your God is a
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consuming fire, a jealous God. God was jealous for his people.
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He made a covenant with them, but they'll disobey them.
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So ASAP is asking how long Father, how long and in some
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point be God release your wrath toward them.
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ASAP turns from looking at the people of Israel toward his
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enemies and he he says there in verses 6 and seven.
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And by the way, Jeremiah quotes Psalm 79 verses 6 and seven in
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Jeremiah 10 verse 25 S Jeremiah had a copy of this Psalm.
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So he says, pour out your anger on the nations that don't know
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you and the kingdoms that do not call upon your name, for they
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have devoured Jacob and laid waste to his have a nation.
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So what ace up saying here is they've defiled you God, and
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he's saying shouldn't your wrath fall on the nations that don't
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know you? They've devoured us, they've
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devoured your people, they slaughtered the righteous with
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the unrighteous, and they've destroyed us.
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Let me just read 3 verses from the account of the destruction
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of Jerusalem in Second Kings chapter 25, which is one of the
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four accounts of the destruction of Jerusalem.
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And it says in the 5th month, on the 7th day of the month, that
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was the 19th year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
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Nebuchadnezzarion, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of
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the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and he burned the
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House of the Lord and the King's house and all the houses of
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Jerusalem. Every great house he burned
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down, and all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the
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captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
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You know, it's interesting that here in verses 6 and seven, He
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asked God to pour out his anger and God would, but it would be
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many, many years later. It would be in 539 BC, October
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12th. And you know the story from
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Daniel chapter 5, right? In one night, Cyrus the Persian
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conquered Babylon in one night. So God did judge Babylon, but it
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would be many, many, many years later down the road.
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Let's look at some point. See God renew your mercy toward
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us. Verse 8, two things here.
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He asked God to pardon them and he asked God to pity them.
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He asked God to pardon him. My Bible says do not remember
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against us our former iniquities.
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Your NSAB translation says do not remember the iniquities of
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our against our forefathers. The NIV says do not hold against
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us the sins of the past generation and the LSV says do
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not remember our former iniquities.
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ASAP would write 12 Psalms as I mentioned, and I'm pretty sure
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he was a godly man to write those 12 psalms.
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After all, he led the worship of the temple.
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He knew proper worship. He knew right worship and wrong
26:09
worship. And yet here he prays for some
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confession of sin that God would not remember their sins.
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God is holy and He knows that we are not.
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ASAP asked how long, O Lord? He didn't ask why has all this
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happened, he asked how long. O Lord, he knows why it has
26:32
happened because he knows the sins of his father's, his
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grandfather's. So I just assumed that ASAP
26:39
being the worship leader was a very righteous man.
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So he doesn't hesitate to say us.
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He knows that he is a sinful nation.
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And when I thought of that, it reminded me of a message I
26:50
preached many years ago on Daniel Chapter 9.
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I'd love to study the prayer, the great prayers of the Bible.
26:57
You know, if you ever Nehemiah chapter 1 and Daniel 9, there's
27:01
just David, Saul, there's just but Daniel 9 verse 4 to 14.
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Now you think of Daniel, remember Daniel chapter 6.
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They could find no fault in Daniel, remember?
27:14
So they had to do what? They had to pass a law to get
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Daniel to disobey the law, not to pray.
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And he prayed. So Daniel was a very, very
27:22
righteous man. But in Daniel Chapter 9, you can
27:26
turn there. I can read it for you, Daniel 9
27:28
verse 4. Listen to Daniel's prayer and it
27:32
says, I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying,
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Oh Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and
27:40
steadfast love with those who love Him and keep his
27:43
commandments. We have sinned and done wrong
27:47
and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from Your
27:50
commandments and rules. We have not listened to your
27:53
servants, the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings, our
27:57
princesses, our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
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To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us belongs
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open shame, as at this day to the men of Judah, to the
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inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near
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and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have
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driven them because of the treachery they have committed
28:21
against you. To us, O Lord, belongs open
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shame to our kings and to our princesses and to our fathers,
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because we have sinned against you.
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To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have
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rebelled against you and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord
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our God by walking in His laws which He set before us by His
28:45
servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your
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law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice and the curse
28:53
and oath that are written in the law of Moses.
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The servant of God have been poured out on us because we have
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sinned against Him. He has confirmed His words which
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He spoke against us and against our rulers who have ruled us, by
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bringing upon us a great calamity.
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For under the whole heaven has not been done anything like
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which has been done against Jerusalem, as it is written in
29:21
the law of Moses. All this calamity has come upon
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us, yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord God,
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turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth.
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Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has
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brought it upon us. For the Lord our God is
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righteous, and all the works that he has done, and we have
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not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord God, who brought
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your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and a
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made a name for yourself, as it is this day.
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We have sinned, we have done wickedly.
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Now, if you're to count all the we's, I think there's nine of
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them, all the US's, that's seven of them.
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So do we, do you pray like that? Do we pray like that?
30:08
Do you ask God to forgive the sins of the United States of
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America? I think most of us just pray for
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our sins, right? Father, forgive me for what I
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did today. But when you think of it, is
30:19
there a more wicked nation on the country, on the in the
30:22
earth, in the United States of America, we literally export
30:26
wickedness. Now, I know the Trump
30:27
administration has cut back, but when I was in Myanmar, I would
30:31
drive by the US embassy and the US consulate there and they
30:34
would have the pride flag up. Not only that it wouldn't be up
30:36
for a month, it'd be up for half a year.
30:38
But they would also host seminars for LBGQ.
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So your tax dollars were going to Myanmar to promote a
30:46
homosexual, lesbian lifestyle and transgender and all that
30:50
when this is a very devout Buddhist country.
30:54
So maybe we ought to pray for the sins of our country, the
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abortions, the same sex marriages, the transgenderism,
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all of them in defiance of our holy God and his written word.
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You know, someday, like what happened to Israel, God is going
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to pour out his wrath on the United States of America.
31:15
Lord willing, we won't be here. We'll be in heaven with the
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rapture. But I love Habakkuk chapter 3,
31:21
verse 2. And Habakkuk heard the story
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that Babylon was going to come. And he says, O Lord, in verse
31:27
two, I've heard the report of you and your work.
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O Lord, do I fear in the midst of your years, revive it.
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In the midst of years make it known.
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And the last four words he says in wrath, remember mercy.
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That's what I pray for the United States of America,
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because the wrath of God is going to be poured out on this
31:48
wicked nation. But right now God is withholding
31:51
that wrath. God is compassion and patient,
31:53
not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
31:56
repentance. But someday that wrath will be
32:00
poured out. So I pray in wrath.
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Remember mercy. Do you pray like that?
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The psalmist does. Let's move on after he says
32:07
pardon us in verse 8, the last part of eight be he says pity
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us. He says let your compassion.
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It's a plural. He's plural here, not singular.
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Come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.
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ASAP is about as low as he can go.
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He's about as discouraged, depressed as he can go.
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And so he just makes a desperate plea and he calls upon that
32:31
God's mercy would come before it's too late, that all of God's
32:36
people will be wiped out. Lamentations 322 says the
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steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
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His mercies never come to an end.
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He cries out for love and the compassion and mercy of God.
32:50
Let's move on to point #3A prayer for glorification verse
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9. So ASAP begins with a lament in
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verse one, Oh God, which is Elohim.
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ASAP then begins praying in verse 50.
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Lord, that's Yahweh. ASAP continues praying here in
33:08
verse 90. God, that's Elohim.
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And there's a couple sub points here.
33:13
Deliver us for your glorious name.
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Pardon us for your name's sake. So he says in the beginning of
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verse nine. Help us, O God, of our
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salvation, for the glory of your name.
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ASAP is appealing to the greatest motivation of all.
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He's asking God to act for the namesake of his own glory.
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He prayed that God would guard the greatness of his name in the
33:38
world, G Campbell Morgan said of this verse.
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ASAP had a passion for the glory of the divine Name, one
33:47
commentator said in this Psalm. All that God does, he does
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primarily to preserve, pursue, and promote His own glory.
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This is the highest end and the chief ambition that stir the
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passion of God's own heart, namely, the magnification of His
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own most holy Name. Here is the supreme good for
34:11
which God acts, the promotion of His own honor.
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If this is the loftiest pursuit of God, then so it must be for
34:19
man. All people must live for what is
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greater than themselves if there are to be elevated to experience
34:26
life as God proposes. Many that live for the greatness
34:31
of God, or they merely exist. This is the highest goal and the
34:36
most honorable aim of man, the passionate pursuit of the glory
34:40
of God. I'm I read Isaiah 42 eight verse
34:44
earlier. I am the Lord that is my name,
34:48
my glory. I give to no other nor my praise
34:52
to carve idols in all situations we ought to pursue the glory of
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God ASAP is hoping for a miraculous intervention here.
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It's not going to come, but he's going to pray for it.
35:04
Matthew 69 when we begin the Lord's Prayer, it says our
35:08
Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name.
35:12
The question for today is have we or have you made God's glory
35:16
number one priority in your life?
35:18
I think it was last year we had a men's Bible study on a Monday
35:22
night and Lance was talking about that verse that you all
35:25
know, 1st Corinthians 1031. Everybody knows that verse.
35:30
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the
35:35
glory of God. And Lance mentioned driving and
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that hit me like a cat, a ton of rocks.
35:43
Like really no. But the more I thought about it,
35:47
he's right. Driving.
35:50
I, I, I get in my car and I pray, father give me a safe
35:53
drive as I take my daughter tests at the school to safe
35:55
drive going home. I pray because it's crazy out
35:57
there. But I never thought about it
36:00
before. It says whatever you do, do for
36:04
the glory of God. And that kind of changed my
36:06
perspective. I think I finally understood
36:08
that verse. First Corinthians 1031.
36:10
It's not just eating and drinking.
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It's whatever you do all day, all night.
36:15
We are to do for the glory of God, including driving.
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So he says #1 deliver us for your glorious name.
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And then the last part of verse 9, he says, pardon us for your
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name's sake. He says deliver us and atone for
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our sins. Why?
36:31
For your name's sake, maybe your translation says forgive our
36:35
sins. You know, here we have the word
36:37
atone and we spent a lot of time talking about that word last
36:41
week. When we look at Psalm 65 and we
36:44
said three times it's mentioned in Psalms, Psalm 65, you atone
36:48
for our transgressions, Psalm 7838.
36:52
Yet he being compassionate atone for an iniquity and did not
36:56
destroy him. And I mentioned last week the
36:59
word atone just means to cover, to wipe out.
37:02
But think about it. Here's ASAP.
37:05
If the temple's destroyed sacrifices could no longer be
37:09
made at the temple, right? So how will Israel make
37:13
atonement for sins? How will they cover those sins
37:16
if sins were really going to be atone for God had to provide a
37:20
better sacrifice, right? And Isaiah 53, verses 5 and 6
37:25
prophesied 700 years before the Messiah would come, says, But he
37:30
was pierced for our transgressions.
37:33
He was crushed for our iniquities.
37:35
Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.
37:38
And but, and with his wounds we are healed all.
37:42
We like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned away everyone his
37:46
own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
37:51
Let's look at #4 a prayer of vengeance.
37:55
I could have titled it a prayer of imprecatory verses 11:50,
38:00
because that's kind of what we have here. 3 sub points here.
38:04
Silence our enemies, save the prisoners and sevenfold their
38:09
taunts. So some point #1 silence your
38:12
enemies. Verse 10, it just says, why
38:14
should the nation say, where's their God?
38:17
Here we have the second question in the Psalm, the second
38:20
searching question in the Psalm. Where's their God?
38:23
So in Israel's time, you probably know that when in one
38:26
nation defeated another nation, it was proof to the victorious
38:31
nation that their gods were stronger than the enemy gods.
38:36
So the Babylonians are taunting the Jews here by asking, where
38:39
is your God? He's non existent is what
38:42
they're saying. At least it's what they're
38:44
implying. These two half verses are
38:47
technically an imprecatory prayer.
38:49
Now you could also include verse 6 where it says pour out your
38:53
wrath upon the nation's. And we have talked about
38:57
imprecatory prayers a lot. If you remember last year we
39:01
looked at Psalm 58 and mentioned an entire Psalm about
39:04
imprecatory prayers. I hope you remember that.
39:07
And every once in a while in the Psalms that we've looked at,
39:10
there's a verse here. And usually it begins with let
39:12
him do this, Let God do this. So, you know, I think you may,
39:17
I've talked a lot about imprecatory prayers.
39:19
But you know, and I mentioned that every day when I pray, I
39:23
pray to imprecatory prayers. One, that God would destroy
39:26
Hamas and that the reigning hostages would be released.
39:30
And the second is that God would destroy the five Myanmar or
39:34
Bernie's generals who are destroying the land of Myanmar.
39:38
You know, I'm not asking God, I'm asking God.
39:41
God, if it's your will, pour out your wrath now get those
39:47
hostages released, judge the wickedness of those wicked
39:50
nations, knowing that God will pour out his wrath later.
39:55
But there's nothing wrong that we can't pray in preparatory
39:58
prayers against those wicked nations of the world.
40:02
So so he's praying that God would judge those nations.
40:07
He says there. In the in the next part there
40:10
verse 10, let the avenging of the out poured blood of your
40:14
servants be known among the nations before our eyes.
40:17
This is the second time, verse 3 and verse 10 that ASAP has
40:21
mentioned the outpouring of the blood.
40:23
That's how great the slaughter was.
40:24
The slaughter was great. So Ace AP's asking here.
40:29
God, we want the world to see your vengeance upon these wicked
40:33
nations. We want you to display your
40:36
power to destroy these nations should you choose to avenge
40:40
them. And I mentioned before that God
40:43
would destroy Babylon, but it would be many, many years down
40:46
the road. Next, say the prisoners, verse
40:49
11. He says, let the groans of the
40:51
prisoners come before you, according to great power,
40:54
preserve those doomed to die. So the one he's suffering, Asaph
41:00
is suffering here, but he includes a plea to save the
41:04
prisoners. Like I pray for the hostages
41:06
that are being held by Hamas because many of these prisoners
41:10
here would face execution. Like then I mentioned they only
41:14
took a few 1000 back to Babylon. Most of the people, thousands
41:18
upon thousands, maybe 300,000 people were slaughtered.
41:22
So this is the same kind of prayer that we we can make
41:25
today. And then verse 12, sevenfold,
41:28
they're taunts, He says return sevenfold into the lap of our
41:31
neighbors. That's the wicked nations, the
41:34
taunts which we have, Taun you, O Lord.
41:37
Now the number sevenfold here in this verse is a concept from
41:41
Leviticus 26. If you go to Leviticus 26, don't
41:45
turn there. Now verses 21 to 28, God says I
41:48
will punish Israel sevenfold for their sins, for breaking my
41:53
covenant. OK, So here Aceps ask God to
41:56
punish Babylon sevenfold for their sins.
42:01
After witnessing what Babylon did to the Jews, the temple and
42:05
Jerusalem, how could ASAP not cry out for God to give
42:09
retribution to them? So ASAP began with a lament in
42:16
verse one. Oh God.
42:17
He began then prayed in verse 50.
42:20
Lord. He continues praying in verse
42:22
90, God. And now he ends verse 12 with Oh
42:26
Lord. And then our last point tonight,
42:29
verse 5, a prayer of adoration, Psalm, verse 13.
42:35
You know, almost every single Psalm of the 150 psalms, almost
42:41
all of them end with praise or at least some type of adoration
42:45
or some type of Thanksgiving. There are a few Psalm 88, Psalm
42:49
137 that just ended abruptly. But like most Psalms are Psalm
42:55
after 12 verses ends the last verse, verse 13, with a prayer
43:00
of adoration. And it's interesting that what
43:05
ASAP's been through, what his eyes have seen, what his body
43:09
has felt, maybe his relatives were taken, maybe his children
43:12
were taken. You know, maybe his wife was
43:14
slaughtered. We don't know exactly.
43:16
But ASAP can still give praise. He can still give thanks to God
43:21
here in verse 13. This is a powerful lesson for
43:24
all of us. You know, I don't know what
43:27
tragedy you've had. I don't know what illness you
43:30
had or maybe going through, maybe the loss of a job, maybe
43:34
what family troubles are going on.
43:36
And we pray and we ask the Lord, how long, O Lord, do I have to
43:39
go through this ordeal? But while you wait, we need to
43:44
give him two things. We need to give thanks forever
43:49
and we need to give praise fervently.
43:52
Verse 13, the first part says, But we your people, the sheep of
43:56
your pasture, we'll give thanks to you forever.
44:00
ASAP's prayer of restoration wasn't answered.
44:03
Jerusalem was still in ruins. ASAP's prayer of glorification
44:07
wasn't answered. Help did not come.
44:10
ASAP's prayer of vengeance wasn't answered for maybe 70
44:14
years or many years. Yet ASAP could still trust the
44:18
Lord and give thanks to the Lord.
44:20
Why? Well, he says right there, we
44:23
are the sheep of your pasture. So if you're in Psalm 79, look
44:29
at verse 13 and I've underlined verse 13.
44:34
I underline or I circle the sheep of your pasture.
44:37
OK, underline that. Now go down to the next Psalm,
44:42
Psalm 80, verse one. And what's it say?
44:46
Give here, O Shepherd of Israel, we are the sheep of his pasture
44:53
and God is a shepherd and God knows what he's doing, even
44:57
though we don't understand him, though we cry out so ASAP knows
45:01
that we are the sheep of the pasture, but that the shepherd
45:05
of Israel is God. And Psalm 79, God's going to
45:09
shepherd his people forever. God is always our Good Shepherd.
45:13
You know how bad things were, Habakkuk, that wonderful little
45:18
book. When you come to the very end,
45:21
God tells he's going to destroy Israel, Jerusalem, He's going to
45:25
use the Babylonian army. There's this debate between
45:28
Habakkuk and God. Finally, in the end of chapter
45:31
3, Habakkuk says though the fig tree should not blossom, nor
45:37
fruit beyond the vines, the produce of the olives fails and
45:42
the fields produce no food. The flock be cut off from the
45:47
fold and there be no herds in the stalls.
45:50
That's six different animals or foods he mentions in verse 18.
45:55
He says, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.
45:58
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
46:02
God the Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like deer.
46:06
He makes me tread in high places.
46:09
So ASAP in Psalm 7913 could give thanks.
46:13
Habakkuk in Habakkuk 13, knowing the horror of what was going to
46:18
happen would still give thanks and joy.
46:21
Psalm 7720 says you led your people like a flock by the hand
46:27
of Moses and Aaron. God shepherd his people by the
46:29
hand of Moses and Aaron during the Exodus and of court in the
46:34
New Testament. This theme is greatly expanded
46:37
in the book of John, and we're going to look at that book on
46:40
Sundays in just a few months. But John 1011, Jesus says I am
46:44
the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his
46:47
life for his sheep. And in Hebrews 1320 it says now
46:52
the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord
46:56
Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of eternal
47:01
covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do,
47:04
His will working in us that which is pleasing his sight
47:08
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
47:12
Amen. So the children of Israel were
47:15
God's sheep and we believers in Jesus Christ or Jesus sheep.
47:19
So we need to give thanks forever like ASAP.
47:22
Then the last line of verse 13 says from generation to
47:25
generation, we'll recount all your praise.
47:29
We need to give praise fervently no matter what the trial, the
47:33
suffering. The problem is ASAP is
47:36
undergoing the worst crisis in his life.
47:39
But he still, as the worship leader in the temple, was
47:42
committed to praise God. And I believe he probably went
47:45
to Babylon and would continue to lead worship to the to the
47:49
people that were taken there. Now we need to, he was committed
47:53
to praise God, not for the things that God gave him, not
47:58
for the things that God did, but just simply because God, who who
48:02
he is, deserves our worship. He would be committed to teach
48:06
his children, his grandchildren how to praise the Lord.
48:11
So in closing tonight, what could we take away from this
48:15
Psalm? Many things, but I'll give you 3
48:17
things. And #1 we mentioned it.
48:22
The wrath of God is coming. It's coming upon this nation,
48:26
the United States of America, it's coming upon the world.
48:29
And it could happen any day. If you've been with us in our
48:32
study of First Thessalonians, chapter 5, in our Psalm, Israel
48:36
was warned again and again and again of the consequences for
48:41
for failing to obey God. And this Psalm is another
48:45
warning for those who refuse to repent and put their faith and
48:49
trust in Jesus Christ. And Second Peter chapter 2,
48:54
verses 49, write that down. We have another strong warning,
48:59
and I'll read it if you want to turn there, but I'll read it.
49:02
It says in second Peter chapter 2, verses 4.
49:05
For if God did not spare angels, that's number one example, when
49:09
they sin, but cast them into hell and committed them to
49:13
chains of gloomy darkness, to be kept until the judgment.
49:17
If he did not spare the ancient world, that's example #2 but
49:22
preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness with seven others,
49:26
when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly, If by
49:29
turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, that's the third
49:32
example to ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them
49:37
an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.
49:42
So I could go on and read and read, but he gives 3 examples
49:45
there that were worn. The angels.
49:47
These are wicked angels, the ancient world and the time of
49:51
Noah, and of course Sodom and Gomorrah that God was going to
49:54
judge him. But most of the world ignores
49:57
that warning. But you know, our our families,
50:01
our relatives, even our church, our country, our world has
50:06
received warning after warning from sacred Scripture.
50:10
And our God is a God of love, a God of great compassion.
50:14
And as I mentioned earlier, his desires that no one should
50:16
perish. If you if you were to go to the
50:19
next chapter in the second Peter verse 9 says the Lord is not
50:22
slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is
50:27
patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that
50:32
all should reach repentance. But God must and will punish
50:38
sin. Romans 623 says the wages of sin
50:42
is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life.
50:47
So wrath is coming and we need to tell the world that number 2.
50:53
I think the glory of his name. I know you know that we are not
50:58
to take the name of the Lord in vain or Hollywood movies take it
51:01
repeatedly and people are always, you know, the people who
51:05
don't believe in God use his name as a curse word.
51:08
But one commentator said that a similar supreme passion for
51:13
God's glory should saturate the heart and focus the prayers of
51:17
every believer. There must be a seeking first
51:21
the Kingdom of God by every child of God before there should
51:25
be a pursuit of earthly things. You know that verse, Matthew 633
51:29
seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.
51:34
And it says in whatever the believer does in every activity,
51:39
including driving, and that's first Corinthians 1031.
51:43
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for
51:46
the glory of God. This is God's own chief pursuit
51:51
is His glory. And so it should be with
51:54
believers. The greatest appeal to God in
51:57
prayer should always be the advancement of his name and the
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spread of fame among the unbelieving nations.
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So I take that apart away. And then #3 maybe you feel
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abandoned by God. Maybe you're struggling like
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ASAP was. Are you like, are you a believer
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like ASAP asking the question, How long, O Lord?
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Now remember when we studied Psalm 5, which was all about
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prayer? Also, I said, if you're
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struggling and you don't know what's going on, make sure
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number one, you are a believer in Jesus Christ and #2 make sure
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there is no sin in your life that would cause not to hear
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your prayers. OK?
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But if you have Jesus Christ in your heart and you don't know of
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any sin, maybe you've cried out to God and you said how long, O
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Lord, for this trial? How long?
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Maybe you feel abandoned by God. There's nothing more difficult
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maybe when God is silent. OK, but what should you do?
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Well, you should do what ASAP does.
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Take your complaints to God in prayer.
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Cry out. You can complain to God.
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Not complaints about normal complaints, but complaints about
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God. Why aren't you judging the
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abortion clinics in California? Why aren't you dealing with this
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transgender? Why don't you send Jesus today
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and then pour out your wrath in this wicked nation?
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We can go to God in prayer. God's not offended by our
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questions, especially when we're transparent like ASAP.
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But while you're crying out to God and saying how long you need
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to be in the fellowship of believers, OK, don't stay away
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from church. That's exactly what Satan wants
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you to do. He, he wants you as you're going
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through this trial, as you're going through his persecution,
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as you're going through the suffering.
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He wants you to be down and out, not to read your Bible, not to
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pray, and not to be in church. But this is the exact place you
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need to be first Peter, which is all about suffering first Peter
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412 says, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial
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when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange
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or happening to you. And then the next verse, verse
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13 says, But rejoice in so far as you share in Christ's
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sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his
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glory is revealed. The trial is small compared to
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the glory that we will see when we're in heaven.
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So you need to be in the worship service.
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You need to be singing praise songs like the worship leader
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ASAP would do. When you sing songs of praise to
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God, even when your hearts are hurting, when it seems like God
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is silent and you feel abandoned, songs of praise clear
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our hearts and remind us that God has not abandoned us.
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And then another thing, as you're suffering, as you're
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struggling, serve the Lord. Take time to minister to others
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because that gets your mind off your trial, off your suffering.
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So those are just three takeaways I have from Psalm 79.
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Wrath is coming. We need to do all we can do for
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the glory of God. And if by chance you're feeling
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abandoned and wondering why God isn't answering your prayers,
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search your hearts and and just continue to worship, continue to
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wait. That's what ASAP did.
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Let's pray. Father, thank you for Psalm 79.
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Thank you that we know the historical account of this
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Psalm. Thank you for this brother ASAP.
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You don't know a lot about him, Lord, but I believe he was a
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godly man and I believe he suffered tremendously.
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But Father, he, he, he knows like we know that you're a holy,
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holy God and you will judge sin because you're a righteous God
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and you must punish sins to it, to it for your justice.
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So Father God, we know that wrath is coming.
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So we pray for our relatives today.
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I know when the CCC prayer letter, there's at least 25
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people in our church asking for prayer for the relatives.
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And so, Father, we do pray for all our relatives that don't
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know Jesus Christ, that we would have another opportunity to
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share with them that the wrath of God will be poured out and
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punished. And you, they do not want to be
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here when the rapture comes and we're in heaven because this
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tribulation, this world will be even much more worse than it is.
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So Father, we pray for the salvation of our loved ones who
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perhaps grew up in this church, who wandered away.
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And Father, I just pray for another opportunities to share
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with them the love of Christ and the consequences of rejecting
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him. And Father, we pray for Christ
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Community Church that you would use it as a light of salvation
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for W Camino, Baldwin Park, Irwindale, that the word of God
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would be preached here that would cause salvation to come to
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many people. And for us who have salvation
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for sanctification, Father, help us to honor your name, not just
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with our lips by not cursing, but in whatever we do, wherever
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we do, at work, at home, whether we're a housewife, whether we're
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a teacher, whether we drive, whether we're anywhere.
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May we glorify your holy and great and awesome and mighty
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name, Father. May we lift up anybody who's
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struggling today, anybody who's suffering, anybody who like ASAP
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says, how long, O Lord, how long must I wait?
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Father, we love the answer of prayer when it's yes, We don't
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really like it when it's no, but we appreciate their abruptness.
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But help those who are struggling through whatever
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situation would be. And they might be saying how
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long, O Lord, that they would, that they would pass the test,
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that they would survive the trial, that they would persevere
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as we are as Christians. And we pray that for us, for
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those of us who aren't suffering, that we can come
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alongside those who are and help them.
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We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.