Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / Tears for Breakfast and Dinner (Psalm 42)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

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Tears for Breakfast and Dinner (Psalm 42)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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We're going to be in Psalm 42. Psalm 42, if you
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want to turn there and kind of just introduction
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to this. What we've been doing this year in these
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evening services is to look at what I'm calling
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shepherding sermons. We are looking at passages
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of scripture that really speak to heart issues.
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that many of us, if not all of us, have experienced
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at one point or another. We began the year looking
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at anger, and the next month we looked at anxiety,
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and then the third month we looked at courage,
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our need for courage. Tonight we look at discouragement
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and depression, and we see this very plainly
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in Psalm 42. This is a very important psalm for
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us, and so I would ask that you give attention
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to this reading again from Psalm 42. To the Choir
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Master, a Maskel of the sons of Korah. As a deer
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pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for
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you, O God. My soul thirsts for God. for the
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living God. When shall I come and appear before
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God? My tears have been my food day and night,
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while they say to me all the day long, where
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is your God? These things I remember as I pour
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out my soul. How I would go with the throng and
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lead them in procession to the house of God with
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glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude
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keeping festival. Why are you cast down, O my
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soul? And why are you in turmoil within me? Hope
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in God, for I shall again praise him, my salvation
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and my God. My soul is cast down within me, therefore
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I remember you from the land of Jordan and of
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Hermon, from Mount Mazar, deep calls to deep,
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at the roar of your waterfalls, all your breakers.
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and your waves have gone over me. By day the
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Lord commands his steadfast love and at night
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his song is with me. A prayer to the God of my
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life, I say to God, my rock, why have you forgotten
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me? Why do I go mourning? Because of the oppression
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of the enemy. As with a deadly wound in my bones,
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my adversaries taunt me while they say to me
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all the day long, where is your God? Why are
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you cast down on my soul? And why are you in
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turmoil within me? Hope in God for I shall again
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praise him my salvation and my God and This is
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God's word Let us pray Father in heaven We give
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you thanks that your word your Bible meets us
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in our needs addresses the very things that we
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go through and so I pray Lord that if there be
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any here in the sanctuary who are dealing with
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depression or just severe discouragement Lord
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this would be a song that ups lifts our souls
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this would be a psalm of encouragement for us
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indeed would it encourage all of us Lord to be
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able to say my salvation and my God Would you
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grant us, oh Lord, understanding? We pray in
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Christ's name, amen. All right, so we are talking
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here about Psalm 42, and I've mentioned depression.
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Now just to disclaimer here, I'm obviously no
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doctor. I'm speaking of spiritual depression,
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which may manifest in our lives physically, right?
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Also, by way of introduction, If you were to
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keep reading in Psalm 43, you would see that
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Psalm 43 appears to be an extension of 42. Indeed,
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many believe that Psalm 42 and 43 were initially
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one Psalm together. And I think there's good
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reason for that because you can see that 42 begins
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in this way with this bit of an introduction
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about the sons of Korah. But if you look at 43,
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there is no such introduction. But even more
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than that, if you were to look at verse five
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of Psalm 43, you would see that it's the same
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thing as in 42 -5 and 42 -11. So there are good
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reasons to believe that these go together, but
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for the sake of time, I'm gonna keep it to just
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Psalm 42 for this evening. Now, when you hear
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that kind of first line there. This picture that
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you see as a deer pants for flowing streams,
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I wonder if that's the picture that you have
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in your heads. Just a beautiful scene. You've
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got a deer maybe standing in the water next to
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it lapping up. water from a babbling brook. You've
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got the evergreen trees in the background. You've
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got the sun just peering in through the trees.
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And it's just a beautiful scene. Matter of fact,
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the ESV here has these scripture journals. And
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on the scripture journal for Psalms is this picture.
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And I don't know if you can see that, but that's
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a deer standing in water with beautiful evergreen
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trees in the background. And so I wonder if that's
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the image that we have. I think this is the image
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that the psalmist wants, but I don't think this
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is the reality for the psalmist. The psalmist
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may desire such beauty and such serenity and
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peace, but in all actuality, as we read through
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the psalm, you see that he is lacking peace.
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Additionally, when you see that word pant there
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as a deer pants for flowing streams, well, when
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we see this used elsewhere, in scripture, sometimes
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it's not in the best light, especially in the
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book of Joel, Joel chapter one, verse 20. Even
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the beasts of the field pant for you because
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the water brooks are dried up and fire has devoured
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the pastures of the wilderness. And so I think
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that's appropriate to read because again, while
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the longing of the heart of the psalmist may
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be for something as peaceful as that, what he
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actually has is something closer what's pictured
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in Joel, of drought, of heat, of no water, right?
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The picture that is here in 42 is this psalmist
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needs God like a deer needs water. just to survive.
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When I read this Psalm, I get the feeling that
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the psalmist feels like he's on life support.
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He needs God that much. Do you remember, you
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remember that story of Jacob and Esau? Where
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Esau comes in and he is absolutely famished and
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he says, give me some of that red stuff. He wants
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some of the stew, right? And Jacob says something
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in effect of, well, you can have some if I can
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have your birthright, right? He's like, well,
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what good is a birthright when I'm dying over
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here, right? He is so incredibly hungry. He's
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famished. He needs this. And this is the way
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the psalmist sounds to me. He needs God. But
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friends, we should consider who he is. And the
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text doesn't tell us. very concretely, but we
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do see that he is one of the sons of Korah. Now
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who were the sons of Korah? We know this from
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other locations that the sons of Korah were professional,
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professional temple musicians. And so this particular
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psalmist, as he is writing this, he's showing
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us that he feels very far away from God. He feels
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far away from the tabernacle or the temple. He
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feels far away from the very worship of God.
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And this is painful for him because he's not
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only a worshiper of God. But this is what he
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does. He is a temple musician, right? He helps
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lead the people in worship, and now he's not
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able to do this for whatever reason. We're not
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told this psalmist here. He's like a preacher.
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without a pulpit. It sounds like he is some distance
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away, again, from the worshiping people of God.
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We don't exactly know where he is or why he is
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taken away from those people, but he indeed longs
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to be worshiping God. And you can see the effect
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that this has upon him. Look in verse 3. My tears
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have been my food day and night. I wonder if
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you've ever felt like that. I wonder if you have
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ever felt like, I can't eat, I can't drink, and
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the only thing that I'm subsisting on are my
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tears, right? And you can see why this is so
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impactful and so heavy for him, because he is
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being taunted for his faith in the one true God.
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Look in verse three. While they say to me all
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the day long, where is your God? He cannot escape
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their words. The psalmist feels like they're
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always with him. Do you ever have that happen
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with you where somebody says something that hurts
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you in some way and you just keep replaying it
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over and over in your mind? This is the psalmist
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here just replaying their taunting in his mind
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and it is overwhelming for him. Look in verse
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7. Deep calls to deep, at the roar of your waterfalls,
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all your breakers and waves have gone over me.
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He feels like he's, have you ever been underneath
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of a waterfall before? Maybe you've been underneath
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of a small one, but to be underneath of a huge
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waterfall, he's just being pressed down, the
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breakers and the waves going over him, this almost
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feels like he's about to drown. And so the question
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that we may have is, what do we do when we feel
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like we're drowning? What do you do when you're
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in such a tailspin? What do you do when you can't
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eat, can't drink, can't sleep? What do you do
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when the tears run out? What do you do when you
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feel like you're drowning? I believe this Psalm
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helps us in at least two ways. What do you do?
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You remember and you hope. Remember and hope.
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Specifically, he remembers worship. He remembers
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in verse four, the atmosphere. He remembers the
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people. He remembers his official function at
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the festival. He remembers worship that is characterized
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by joy and by gladness. John Calvin says here,
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the observance of external ceremonies cannot
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of itself bring us into favor with God, but they
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are religious exercises that we cannot do without
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because of our weakness. Friends, I'm so glad
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you're here tonight. I think that you would agree
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that worship waters our souls. Worship is like
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the best, healthiest meal for us. It is what
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we need. And so this psalmist here, he's reflecting
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upon this, he's remembering this kind of worship.
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It's almost like, do you ever look at old photographs
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of maybe just your loved ones who have passed
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on? And you ever look at those and maybe you
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cry a little bit, but at the same time you recognize
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those tears are good for you, right? It's good
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to remember, isn't it? The tears can almost have
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this healing quality to them. But for him, what
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does he got the tears about? Again, he feels
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distant from God and he feels distant from God's
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people. And I wonder if you've ever been there,
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done that. Have you ever been providentially
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hindered from being in worship for maybe a long
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period of time or even maybe a brief period of
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time? Maybe you've battled an illness that's
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kept you out of worship for many weeks or even
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months. Have you ever moved to a new community
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and you've had to leave behind your church and
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you miss it and it takes a while to find a new
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church? Have you had that experience? I know
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I've shared this before, but many, many years
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ago I moved to Warsaw, Poland for six months.
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and I was worshiping in a Polish church and they
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didn't speak a lot of English there. And at first
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I thought that was kind of neat, but then I began
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to really miss my home church. I began to miss
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worshiping in my own native tongue. And after
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about a month, I just couldn't take it anymore.
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Even with people in the church trying to help
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me, people sitting behind me, whispering things
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into my ear, which I mostly found just to be
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creepy, not helpful. And so one day, a man in
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the church, recognizing how difficult that was,
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said, can I take you to an English -speaking
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church? I said, yes, please. And we got there,
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and I think it was the first hymn that we sang,
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if it's even called a hymn, Jesus Loves Me, have
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you heard of that one? and I felt like I had
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never heard something so beautiful as that. Being
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able to sing that song in my own language, oh,
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I felt restored, I felt rejuvenated, I felt nourished,
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right? My thirst was quenched. But here, the
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psalmist is dealing with something more difficult
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than just language barriers here. His soul is
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truly cast down. And it's affecting him in incredible
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ways, right? And that's really what depression
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does. Depression causes us to lose sight of God.
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Depression causes us to be at this point where
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we cannot see past our circumstances. Depression
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focuses on the difficult things and we can't
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see past them. Maybe it'd be a job loss. Maybe
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it'd be a breakup. The loss of a loved one, a
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horrific diagnosis. Maybe it's our own sin. And
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within these things, as we deal with them, it
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just crushes us, it weighs us down, and we begin
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to feel like Jonah when Jonah's cast over the
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boat into the deep. And do you remember as Jonah
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is sinking down and down in the weeds wrapped
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around his head? But then we get Jonah 2 7 when
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my life was fainting away. I Remembered the Lord
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and my prayer came to you into your holy temple
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This indeed is the very grace of God that God
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would work in us to have us to recall who he
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is Martin Luther said God grants us the grace
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and spirit to cheer the heart by reminding us
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of his Mercy Within our severe discouragement
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We must remember God But there are also reasons
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that that's hard for us Some of the reasons that
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we struggle to remember God is because when things
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are going really well Sometimes we ignore The
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very things that are good for us We ignore the
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means of grace until a serious crisis arises.
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We neglect prayer. We neglect worship. We neglect
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scripture. We neglect service. We neglect fellowship.
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And what all of that does is it amounts to a
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very weak faith. Friends, we ought not wait until
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the moment of crisis to commit ourselves to God.
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Do it now. Now, I wanna say this is not always
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the cause. depression and discouragement. Many
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faithful Christians still attend to the means
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of grace and yet face deep depression, that is
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true. But it's also true that what can lift us
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out of these things when our souls are downcast
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like the psalmist is to remember God and to remember
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specifically who he is, his attributes. Look
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at verse eight. By day the Lord commands his
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steadfast love and at night his song is with
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me, a prayer to the God of my life. Friends,
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is there anything more encouraging than to remember
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that you are loved by Yahweh? Is there anything
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better than that? To know that you are loved
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by the immutable, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent,
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triune, true God who created the universe by
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speaking it into existence. There's nothing better
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than that. There's nothing better than knowing
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that that God loves you so much that he gave
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up his only begotten son that you would have
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everlasting life. And so in your discouragement,
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remember Jesus. Remember what Jesus' name means,
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right? Yahweh saves. Remember the atonement and
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remember that the love that you have for God
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was initiated by God. He loved you first. So
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even when you feel far from God, you can know
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that God is with you. He has implanted his spirit
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within your very hearts. And considering location,
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let's understand maybe where the psalmist is
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geographically. Look at verse six. My soul is
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cast down within me, therefore I remember you
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from the land of Jordan. and of Hermon from Mount
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Mazar. Where is he? Well, seems to tell us. And
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if he is indeed by Mount Hermon, this is probably
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the northern tip of Israel at the time. And commentators
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have said that if he is there, that's like one
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of the last spots from the north that you can
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look back and see the holy city. Some have even
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said that this could be the psalmist being one
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of those exiles from Israel being taken away
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to exile. And if so, maybe this is his last time
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to look back and see the city, see his home.
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Others have said this could be David. David perhaps
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gave the psalm to the sons of Korah. And you
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know David, he would seem like he was always
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on the run from a member of his family. from
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Saul, but either way this psalmist is In a situation
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and he cannot fix it himself But he remembers
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God and he doesn't remember God just once Look
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in verse 9. We continue to see his struggle He
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says I say to God my rock Why have you forgotten
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me? And so it's not just that he must remember
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God. At times he feels totally forgotten by God.
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And yet he does confess God as his rock. And
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when scripture uses this kind of, this imagery
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of a rock, we're supposed to think of maybe a
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fortress, an immovable solid rock. And yet even
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as he affirms this is who God is, he still feels
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unshielded. And the reason for that is because
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sometimes, being a follower of God leaves us
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vulnerable. It leaves us vulnerable to the attacks
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of others, Christians who are criticized, Christians
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who are ostracized because of their faith in
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Jesus. But friends, while we may be vulnerable,
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we're also victorious, and not by our own determination,
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but by the cross of Christ. You see, Jesus knows
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what you're going through. He knows everything
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about you. Jesus knows what you're going through,
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and he went through it himself. Matthew 26, 38,
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Jesus's words, my soul is very sorrowful, even
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to death. John 12, 27, now is my soul troubled.
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What shall I say? Father, deliver me from this
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hour. But for this purpose, I have come to this
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hour. And of course, Isaiah 53 shows us that
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he is the suffering servant. He is the one who
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is called the man of sorrows. Do you see? That
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as you experienced sorrow, you can lean upon
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Jesus who knows exactly what that is like. We
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sing this hymn called Man of Sorrows. It says
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Man of Sorrows, what a name. For the Son of God
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who came ruined sinners to reclaim Alleluia what
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a Savior bearing shame and scoffing rude in my
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place condemned he stood sealed my pardon with
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his blood Alleluia what a Savior And so we must
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remember this Savior But this Savior also gives
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us something else that we need Look at verse
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5, and it's the same thing in verse 11. We must
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hope. We remember and we hope. Let me read this
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part again, verse 5. Why are you cast down, O
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my soul? And why are you in turmoil within me?
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Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my
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salvation and my God. We must hope in God. But
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here's the thing about depression. Depression
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can rob our strength. And this is why our only
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hope is in God, not in ourselves, right? Think
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about this psalmist, he sounds weak, he sounds
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overcome. The only way he's gonna get through
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this is with God on his side, right? And so what
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does he do? He begins, it sounds like he's preaching
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to himself. Why self are you cast down? And why
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are you in turmoil? He's not belittling his discouragement.
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He is putting it in its proper place. You see
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friends, something else we need to understand
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about depression is that depression is a liar.
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Depression lies to us. Depression tries to make
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you feel like your feelings are the measure of
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truth. Depression says that if God feels absent,
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he must be. but it's not true. Depression says
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that if you feel unloved, you are unlovable,
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but it's not true. Depression says you cannot
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be forgiven, but it's not true. Christ died for
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this very fact. Friends, Ed Welsh said, our emotions
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are loud, but they do not tell the whole story.
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And our feelings are fickle, aren't they? Especially
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when we're dealing with depression, especially
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when we're discouraged, we might not feel anything
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at all. But scripture, now that's something that
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doesn't change. That is something that's solid.
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That's something you can depend upon. This word
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here contains the encouragement that a depressed
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soul absolutely needs. If God is for us, Then
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what? Who can be against us, right? Or consider,
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since Psalm 42 sounds so much like this, Psalm
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27, verse one, the Lord is my light and my salvation.
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Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold
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of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? And then
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down to verse four, it sounds so much like 42.
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One thing have I asked of the Lord that I will
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seek after, that I may dwell in the house of
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the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon
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the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his
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temple. The psalmist there just wants to be back
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in the very presence of God worshiping. He loves
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it. He needs it. And this is the same desire
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as in Psalm 42, to be back in God's house with
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God's people. But friends, if I can lift our
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hearts and our minds above our feelings right
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now, I want to say the true reason for worship.
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Yes, worship absolutely helps with our depression.
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It helps with our discouragement. That is a pressing
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need. But there is an even deeper reason for
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us to gather for worship because God is rightly
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to be praised. We were created for worship. When
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you feel homesick for your church family, when
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you feel homesick for worship, that is intentional
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because you were made to worship. It is your
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chief end. We were made to praise Him, to say
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along with the psalmist, my salvation and my
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God. And so saying all of that, I recognize,
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one, how good it is for us to be together. But
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also I recognize this, and you do too, I'm sure,
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that some people will continue to struggle with
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depression for their whole lives. They will.
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God's word, though, encourages our hearts through
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the depression. Because our hope is not in our
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feelings. Our hope. is in Christ. Ed Welch says,
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depression can't rob you of hope because your
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hope is in a person and that person, Jesus, is
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alive and is within you. And so friends, be lifted
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up by the good news of the gospel. It is the
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medicine that we need when we are depressed and
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discouraged. Take heart, friends. God loves you.
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Let's pray.