Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20241211 - Confident in the Lord - Psalm 27

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#20241211 - Confident in the Lord - Psalm 27 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word recorded live at Calvary
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Church in Aurora, Co. To learn more about the many
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resources available through Abounding Grace Media or to tune
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into our live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co
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dot Church or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Now let's open our Bibles and study God's Word.
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And as you're getting situated, again, welcome to those that are
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here in person. I also want to take a moment to
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welcome those who are watching online or listening on the
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radio. My name is Keegan.
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I'm one of the pastors here at Calvary Church.
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I've been on staff since 2015 when I joined this pastoral
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team, and it's been a blessing to be a part of this church, to
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continue to be edified and to be used in that way.
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So anyway, welcome again. I'm going to be teaching a
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message today from Psalm 27 and the message I've titled
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Confident in the Lord. So you can turn in your Bibles,
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if you have them, to Psalm 27. And I'd like to begin our time
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just with another prayer as we open up our hearts to receive
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God's Word. Pray with me again if you would.
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So Heavenly Father, we do bow our hearts to you as our Bibles
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are open. Help our hearts to be open to
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you God what you want to minister to us through this
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topic that you've impressed on me to to share God and so we
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give it to you that you would glorify yourself here in our
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midst. We ask and pray that in Jesus
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name all God's people say Amen Amen.
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All right, so confident in the Lord, Psalm 27.
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Pastor Ed asked me to teach a few weeks back and I've had some
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time, fortunately to really pray through what I wanted to share.
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And there's just been a lot of things of how God has ministered
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this particular word and this particular Psalm to my heart.
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But by definition, I want to start there by definition of the
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word confidence, because as we build into this idea of being
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confident in the Lord, it's good to have a right definition of
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what confidence is. Now both through the dictionary
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and pulling this word, the the word in verse 3 of Psalm 27.
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This word confidence means to have a boldness or a certainty
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in one's own or somebody elses abilities.
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It's also a feeling of safety and security.
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And as we go into today's study, I would really encourage you and
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challenge you to think of times or examples that you've grown in
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confidence, but also times you felt like you lost confidence.
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And I believe those practical examples as you consider, you
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know, one's ability or certainty, boldness, safety,
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security, as you consider that definition, think of times
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you've grown in confidence and times you've lost confidence.
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If it's helpful, I'll share a couple stories.
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And you know, so often like how Jesus would share a parable, he
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would give a practical illustration, and then later on
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he would reveal a deep spiritual truth.
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And so here, here's a practical story from my own life recently
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of growing in confidence. So we've had the privilege to
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add some additional furniture in the junior high ministry.
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Upstairs to the third floor is where the youth meets.
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That's one of the primary roles I have here at the church, which
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by the way, I just appreciate this church over the years and
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you continue to do so. Be super generous to this, to
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our youth in at large, right? The youth of this church are
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blessed. We have pretty much everything
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up there, the game tables, the furniture has been donated.
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I would say 90% of the things we have up there has been donated.
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But furniture, you know, overtime used furniture is just
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that. It's used.
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It's well, well used by our over 100 middle schoolers that we see
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week in and week out. And I found ironically, that
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there's a certain IKEA couch that holds up very well.
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So I got approval to purchase, you know, multiple of these
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couches to kind of get rid of some of the old things to update
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aesthetically and function high durability, right?
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So if you've ever been to IKEA, you know when you go to, if
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you're looking at a bookshelf, for instance, right, you'll have
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a six foot tall, 3 foot wide bookshelf.
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You look at it in the showroom, you go to pick it up in the
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warehouse and the thing fits in the shopping bag, right?
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And you're like, OK, and you get that, you know that there is
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much assembly required. Now, ironically, these couches
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are the opposite. You know, the box, the assembled
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version of it, the box is actually significantly larger
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than the assembled version of this couch, but it still has
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much assembly needed. So with the first couch, of
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course, as I'm putting it together, I'm following the
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instructions, you know, you know, in sequence and exactly
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doing what it says, putting the back rest and the seat rest and
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the armrest and the dozens of fasteners and they give you this
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little honorary toy wrench, you know, if you ever have, I can't,
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you know, it's just like this little toy that you got to put
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these things and wrench that thing together.
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My thumbs still fill it today. But I put, I put the first one
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together, following step by step.
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But I tell you what, after the first one, and I'm putting a few
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of these together after the first one, I felt like that
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could be a professional assembler for IKEA because I'm
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putting them together. I feel like confidence as took
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the took the instructions, I tossed it.
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You know, as you open it up, you toss it to the side.
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So growing in confidence, right? I have that example for you.
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I still feel confident in putting an IKEA couch together
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today. Well, let's talk about losing
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confidence. This one might be an easier
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analogy to to relate to. You know I was as I was
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considering something. Actually my mind went back to
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the summer this past summer. My wife and I have 3 kids and
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our middle son's a high school is in high school and he had a a
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season pass to Elish Gardens. Now you know I'm I'm pretty
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frugal so I wanted to make sure the first few moments the first
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few times that he went up there, we made sure he got up there.
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So I get our moneys worth but after a while it's hard getting
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you know your kid downtown, especially with my wife and I
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full schedule. So I had an idea.
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I was kind of confident. I was somewhat confident that he
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is savvy enough to take public transportation, right?
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I can maybe send him on the light rail.
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I know that there's a stop that gets him there to that could
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drop him off him and his friend or whoever's going that can drop
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them there at Elitch Garden. So I thought, OK, maybe I'll
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send him. I'm kind of confident, but I
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want to grow in that confidence, right?
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So then I have this idea. I say, you know, I'm going to be
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romantic. I'm going to take my wife on a
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date downtown and I'm going to test.
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I'm going to take the light rail.
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I'm going to surprise her and say, hey, we're going to go.
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We're going to go downtown. We're going to have dinner.
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We're going to take the light rail.
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Now, Needless to say, you know, I lost confidence.
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So this story, it was romantic by theory, but it was not a
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great trip. So let me tell you First off, I
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accidentally picked a night where some huge country music
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stars in town and there's a big, big concert going on at Mile
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High Stadium. So every stop we're probably the
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only two people on this over full train that are not going
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there, right? That's First off, but that's OK,
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right, Because that's just that's probably not normal.
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So I was I was OK with that. But then as we're just a couple
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miles away from our final stop, the train breaks down and the
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lights turn off and it's summer, so the air conditioning turns
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off and I'm in this over packed train and people start to panic,
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right. It's a good, you know, social
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experiment to do that because you know, what happened is then
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people pry open the back doors. And I didn't when we got stuck,
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we didn't get stuck on like the side of the road.
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We were like 10th and Osage, like one of the worst places to
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get stuck. And then people prying open the
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door on an elevated part of the track and they're bailing out.
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And my wife's looking at me like, what are we going to do?
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And I'm like, not that I hope. And so if wait 5 minutes, wait
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another 5 minutes, the lights turn on.
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Finally it was like Long story short, it took us an hour and a
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half to get there when it should have taken like 40 minutes.
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OK, so we get there. One of my first interactions is
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some guy that just got pepper sprayed and needs me to buy a
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milk. And I'm like listen, OK, let's
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get our dinner. It was not romantic.
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Let's get our dinner, let's get out of here.
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Well, then, you know, you would think, OK, it can't be worse on
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the way home. Well, it wasn't necessarily
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worse, but there was some maintenance malfunction on the
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train and that thing is going 10 miles an hour, stopping at every
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stop. I don't even know.
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It was probably midnight. We got home and I was like,
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Needless to say, I never sent my son on the light rail.
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My confidence was little by little struck down there.
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And as you think of these examples, right, whether our
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confidence can be extremely strong or significantly weak,
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anything in between. Here's the spiritual I believe
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God wants to give us in these analogies that I shared and the
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things that maybe you thought of is we always fall short if the
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source of our confidence is based on us or someone else,
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unless that someone else is the Lord himself.
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And again, we'll fall short if our confidence is on us or
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someone else, unless that someone else is the Lord.
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And for our confidence must be rooted.
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I have this point. Our confidence must be rooted in
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the Lord in order to be strong and sustainable.
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So as we go into this Psalm today, I believe that there's
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going to be some different points wherever you come in
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today that God's going to want to challenge you either to
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establish, to restore, or to grow in your confidence in him.
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And we'll see some of these points from Psalm chapter 27.
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If you have your Bibles, let's open together.
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Let's read this Psalm, and then we'll develop some key takeaways
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out of this Psalm. So Psalm 27, this is a Psalm of
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David, and we'll read the whole thing and we'll go back and
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develop some things. It says this verse one, the Lord
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is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?
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The Lord is the strength of my life.
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Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me
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to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and
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fell. Though an army may encamp
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against me, my heart shall not fear.
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The war may rise against me. And this I will be confident.
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One thing I've desired of the Lord, that will I seek, that I
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may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to
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behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.
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For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion.
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In the secret place of His Tabernacle He shall hide me.
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He shall set me high upon a rock, and now my head shall be
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lifted up above my enemies all around me.
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Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His
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Tabernacle. I will sing.
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Yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
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Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, have mercy also upon me,
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and answer me. When you said seek my face, my
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heart said to you, Your face, Lord, I will seek.
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Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in
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anger. You have been my help.
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Do not forsake. Do not leave me or forsake me.
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O God of my salvation, When my father and my mother forsake me,
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then the Lord will take care of me.
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Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path.
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Because of my enemies, do not deliver me to the will of my
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adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me and such
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as breathe out violence. I would have lost heart unless I
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had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the
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land of the living. Wait on the Lord, Be of good
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courage, and he shall strengthen your heart.
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Wait, I say, on the Lord, Amen. He knows David writes this
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Psalm. We know David is a man.
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If you know, if you've studied your Bible at all, you know
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David is a man who knows much about struggle and opposition.
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There's so much in his life that we can read through the word of
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times that he struggled. You know, I think back to early
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on in his life, right as he's serving under King Saul.
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But Saul turns on him and all of a sudden, Saul wants him dead.
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Saul even takes attempts at his life, so much so that David is
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on the run. David is constantly looking over
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his shoulder and you know, there's that time of opposition
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in his life. Or you think of the time when
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Absalom, his son, his adult son, rebelled against him and then
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caused a big revolt that turned into no matter how it would end,
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it would be a lose, lose situation for David.
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And of course, that had a tragic conclusion or you think of the
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time, you know, I think with other things with David that
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throughout his life there was consistent conflict with groups
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of people, including the most notable, the Philistines, right?
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So with all of that, David would know something about opposition,
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but some of the opposition and most of the opposition, you
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could say, was unprovoked by him.
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And maybe you can relate to that, that there's times that
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you're going through things that like David on some of those
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occasions or even like Job when Job was going through his
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things, he's like, what happened and what, what did I do maybe to
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deserve this? But we know for David, there
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were other times that his opposition came self-inflicted.
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And I think also we can relate to that.
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At least I can. I'll speak for myself.
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I can relate to self-inflicted opposition.
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You know, for David, there's two most notable.
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There's a number of failures that are recorded in the Bible,
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but probably the two most notable is the time that his men
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were away at war. One of his mighty men, his wife
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was there and David beheld her beauty and unfortunately
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committed adultery and then tried to cover it up and tried
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to, you know, and when the cover up didn't work, he had another
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plan to have this mighty man of God of his sent out on the front
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line of battle to be killed. And even with all of that, we
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know that David faced great consequences as his further the
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daughter or the son of this woman that he impregnated would
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would would not make it or the time there's actually a more
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significant failure the time for David when in his overconfidence
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in himself, he called for a census census of the land.
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And with that, it provoked the anger and judgement of God.
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And actually 10s of thousands of lives would be lost because of
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that decision. So opposition, you know, we, we
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look at that and say this is probably one of those times of
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unprovoked opposition. But we can take a point away
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too, to know that some of the things in struggle we face in
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life, some are not of our doing, but others are.
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But whatever that is, I believe that you'll see of this title,
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confident in the Lord, we can develop some points that will
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hopefully minister to your heart.
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And so as we go back through Psalm 27, I've developed four
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key takeaways, all with the letter, starting with the letter
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P. And so we're going to go back
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through and I want you to to notice and take heart, take note
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and take heart to some of these things.
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So going from verse one through 3 is the first word.
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Key take away is pep talk. Pep talk.
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You guys might have seen old movie.
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I remember this as a child, this old movie.
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Cool runnings, right? It was the Jamaican Olympian
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athletes who missed the Summer Olympics and ended up training
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for the Winter Olympic bobsled team.
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Now there's a scene in that movie.
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It's kind of silly. You can go back and watch it if
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you want. But there's a scene in that
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movie where one of the confident athletes of the Jamaican team
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brings one of his less confident, you know, teammates
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and has them look in the mirror and says, tell me what you see.
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And I kind of see in verse one through 3, David having a moment
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like this where he needs to give himself a pep talk, except his
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pep talk is not to build his own confidence, but to remind
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himself who the Lord is because obviously is this is an inspired
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of God. A second Timothy 316 says all
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Scripture is given by inspiration of God.
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God is not lacking confidence. God did not inspire David to
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remind God who he is, right? So David is having this pep talk
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at per SE right to just be to remind himself who the Lord is.
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Notice he says this. He says the Lord is my light and
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my salvation. Whom shall I fear?
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The Lord is the strength of my life.
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Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me
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to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and
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fell. Though an army may encamp
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against me, my heart shall not fear, Though roar rise against
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me, and this I will be confident.
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I'm reminded of a scripture. There was a time in Davidde life
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where they were out at war and some of their family was behind.
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And of course, the enemy came in and raided their camp, took some
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of their possessions and even some of the people, including
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Davidde wives. And in First Samuel chapter 30,
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verse 6, there's this phrase that David said that although
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the people are rising up against him, it says in first Samuel
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chapter 30, verse 6, in the final part of that verse.
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But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
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And it was almost like one of these moments of Psalm 27 that
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he just had to remind himself that the Lord is my light and my
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salvation. Of whom shall I be afraid?
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And maybe this is a question for us today to ask and reflect what
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is causing us worry and what is causing us fear.
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And allow, through a similar way that David showed us here
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through this Psalm, allow the light of God to shine upon these
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dark moments of your life. Again, allow the light of God to
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shine upon these dark moments of your life.
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Trust Him to provide protection and deliverance, because fear is
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crippling and we know that God gives us remedy for things of
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worry. So what are we worried about,
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right? David says.
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The Lord is my light and my salvation.
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Whom shall I fear? But the reality when we face
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difficulty, the reality when we're struggling is it's the
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almost this inward desire to run or an inward desire to quit.
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And I want to remind you here today or just encourage you
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maybe today, that if you feel like running, remember to run to
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the Lord. Or if you feel like quitting,
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you probably need to quit trying to do it on your own and learn
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to trust in the Lord. And so it's, you know, going
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back to this, this thought that another thing I look at is in
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verse 2, you know, David says when the wicked came up against
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me to eat my flesh, my enemies and my foes and armies coming
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against him, David was no doubt a strong man and David was no
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doubt a skilled warrior. And if we can try to put
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ourselves in his shoes or in his position, it would be easy to
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trust in your own ability when you're a strong man and a
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skilled warrior and people are coming against you.
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And again, maybe I'm speaking for myself, but if I'm a strong,
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skilled warrior and people are coming against me, it's like,
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let's do this thing but for David, right?
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For David, I think that there's this remembering past victories.
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If you would keep your place but turn back to the book of First
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Samuel, chapter 17, First Samuel chapter 17, it's a notable
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victory in David's life. It's probably one of his earlier
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victories, but it's that victory over Goliath.
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And again, when you remember your past victories, this is one
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of those places to not be. Confident in self, but to be
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confident in the Lord first Samuel chapter 17 verse 37, as
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David is enlisting himself to go fight against this giant of a
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Philistine Goliath himself. It says, moreover, David said,
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the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the
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paw of the bear, he will deliver me from the hand of this
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Philistine and Saul said to David, go and the Lord be with
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you. And I believe for David, that
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was where he's at in Psalm 27 is he's not trusting in his own
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abilities as these armies are coming.
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And I love that he's being reminded is who has been his
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protection, who has been the one that has brought him victory
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through it all. And so as you look back in Psalm
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27 and verse three there at the end, he says, and this I will be
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confident. Psalm 27, verse three at the end
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and this I will be confident. And it takes us back to verse
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one, right? This is really the theme of all
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this Psalm as he reflects back and as we go forward, it's this
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idea of why he's confident. He says because the Lord is my
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light and my salvation. But let me take a moment here to
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pause because I think that there's sometimes we can read
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the Bible and we can miss apply it.
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And what I mean by that is this is one of those promises for a
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follower of God. This is one of those promises
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for a follower of God for him to say.
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And this I'll be confident that the Lord is my light and that
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the Lord is my salvation. Now, let me say, like all
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humanity, all people, as we see in the book of Genesis, all
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humans are created in the image of God.
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And so, yes, humanity bears the image of God.
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However, there's a specific right to be called the child of
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God. John chapter one verse 12, Jesus
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says for all who called a believed upon his name had the
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right to be called a child of God.
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So this is a child of God promise here, right?
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This isn't just a promise that we can all hang on to or we
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naturally inherit, but no, this is a promise to those who have
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called upon the name of the Lord to say He is my light, He is my
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salvation. And just a simple reminder,
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reflection, whatever word you want to use for maybe those here
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listening, that your heart is not right with God, that you
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have not allowed Jesus to be Lord.
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I would encourage you to write down this verse in Romans
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chapter 10, verse nine that says that if you confess with your
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mouth and believe unto the Lord Jesus, you shall be saved
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because your heart has a need to be born again.
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Your heart has a need as we are distant from God.
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Jesus is the remedy. We even have more information
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than David did as he pinned the Psalm.
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So I wanted to take a moment really to encourage that and to
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remind us of that, of that particular truth.
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But coming back to Psalm 27, so as we go through verse one
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through 3, we see that first key take away as we grow in our
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confidence in the Lord. That time of a pep talk of just
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you might have to get in the mirror today and use that cool
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runnings analogy and remind yourself who God is and what God
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has done, what victories God has brought in your life.
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The second point is the term practice.
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So we have pep talk and now practice in verse 4 through 6.
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And any illustration that you think of of growing in
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confidence, I'm sure has something to do with repetition
24:00
or practice, right? My IKEA furniture story is the
24:04
first couch. I lacked a lot of confidence as
24:08
you pull it part and without any instructions, you probably
24:10
figure it out after a little while, but without those
24:12
instructions, it would be very, very challenging to figure out
24:16
where all these little things go right?
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And so, but the more practice you get, you know, obviously a
24:21
lot of times that's where you will grow in confidence.
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So notice here in verse 4 through 6 again, David after
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saying, in this I will be confident, verse 3, verse four,
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one thing I've desired of the Lord that will I seek, that I
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may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to
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behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
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For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion,
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in the secret place of his Tabernacle He shall hide me.
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He shall set me high upon a rock, and now my head shall be
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lifted above my enemies all around me.
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Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy and his
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Tabernacle I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
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And I want you to take note of some of those keywords he says
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will dwell with I will inquire of I will offer, I will sing.
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It's this picture of being active, active in his walk with
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the Lord. And again, another reflective
25:22
question for us here is where is a place you most regularly hear
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the voice of God or where is a place you most tangibly since
25:33
his presence? And those are good things to
25:36
reflect on, right? Because it's a Grove to be
25:39
confident in the Lord. David has this picture that he
25:43
paints is that if we have in our mind the Lord is far and
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distant, it's hard to be confident in him if we feel like
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God is just a million miles away.
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And maybe when I was praying in my prayer group, maybe he heard
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mind in the midst of all of these.
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But when I trust that Jesus is near and when I trust that God
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is near, that's how I can be confident in him to remember
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that my faith is something active.
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It's not some passive belief. It's an active work.
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And so a key point, a key take away is to remember to actively
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seek fresh experiences with the Lord, actively seek fresh
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experiences with the Lord. Now David could have rode on the
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David and Goliath or the Goliath story, probably for the rest of
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his life. You know, to take out a 9 foot
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warrior, that's a pretty amazing feat.
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But we know David had many more victories than that.
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And again, it's, it's important thing for us to take away from
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this of seeking those fresh experiences.
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And that's why he says this thing I've desired that I will
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seek, that I will dwell in the House of the Lord, right?
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I will sing praises that I will go to his Tabernacle and that
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you know all these things I will offer all those things kind of
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speak there to to practicing even you know, as he talked
26:59
about the temple there at the end of verse 4.
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What's interesting is that David, although he had in his
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heart. You can find this in second
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Samuel Chapter 7. It was in his heart to build the
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temple, but God had other plans. God actually said that the
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temple to build will be for your son Solomon.
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But even in that right there wasn't whether David wrote this
27:20
before or after the occurrence of second Samuel Chapter 7.
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Again, it's hard, hard to pinpoint exactly when this Psalm
27:27
was written, but you can just know that even with that, David
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continued to seek after the Lord, to have fresh experiences,
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to have desires, to grow, to learn, to go deeper into the
27:39
things of God. But you know, in verse 6, right,
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Verse 6, it says, and now my head shall be lifted up above my
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enemies, all around me. And again, it'd be nice to know
27:50
exactly what specific trial David was going through.
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But here's a reality. Victory, when he wrote this, or
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was he's reflecting on this, wasn't there yet, but he had a
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confidence that victory was ahead.
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It's a good thing, you know, again, for us to take away to
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know that we are victorious even before we experienced victory.
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But again, I'll speak personally, this is probably one
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of the most challenging areas in my walk because when I'm in a
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trial, I'm just one of those people like this is just life is
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life is over. It's the worst.
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You know, it's hard. I'm just being serious.
28:27
Like, you know, it's just one of those things in the midst of a
28:29
trial. I really struggle with a verse
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like James chapter one turn there.
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I want you to see it. I remember sharing this, like
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this is one of those verses. I was doing a hospital visit.
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I can remember it very tangibly. I'm doing a hospital visit
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because this is an easier said than done verse, right?
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I'm at this hospital visit. The person's going through some,
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you know, some significant health issues and struggles.
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And so I read this verse. Take joy.
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Look at James chapter one, verse 2.
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My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various
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trials. And as I read that verse, like
29:01
God busted my heart. He's like, tell me the last time
29:05
you did that. Tell me the last time you were
29:07
in a trial because it's easy, but hindsight, I've do it all
29:10
the time. Hindsight, God, you were good.
29:12
Sorry, I doubted. But in the moment, like and even
29:15
still since that was years ago, still God is still like, hey,
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when are you going to do that and when are you going to take
29:20
joy in the midst of that trial? Knowing verse three, that the
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testing of your faith produces patience and then but let
29:29
patience have it's perfect work, that you may be perfect and
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complete and lacking nothing. It's a challenge.
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But going back to Psalm chapter 27, right when David had this
29:42
again, he just had this faith mindset, this confident mindset
29:46
that victory was already his before he received it, before he
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was already victorious even in the midst of the opposition.
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And so I love that thought. I hope, Yeah, you take that away
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and just a simple final take away with this particular idea
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of practice is to be confident in the promises of God.
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So be confident in these promises of God and and I love
30:10
that about victory. So as you go to their next key
30:14
take away, remember the first one was the pep talk.
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The second one is practice in verse 4 through 6.
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In this next the the the third one is going to be the word pray
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that we'll see in verse 7 through 12.
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Pray so pep talk practice now prayer read verse 7 through 12
30:32
again with me and now we see David in this place of petition
30:37
and talking to God here, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, have
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mercy also upon me and answer me.
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And when you said seek my face, my heart said to you, your face,
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Lord, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me.
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Do not turn your servant away in anger.
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You have been my help. Do not leave me or forsake me.
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O God of my salvation, when my father and my mother forsake me,
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then the Lord will take care of me.
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Teach me your way. O Lord, lead me in a smooth
31:05
path. Because of my enemies, do not
31:07
deliver me to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses
31:11
have risen against me and such as breathe out violence.
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And we see this picture of praying, which of course is just
31:18
this petition to God. It's David just talking to God,
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having that personal time with God.
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And as I get to serve in the junior high ministry, one of the
31:28
the cool opportunities that we get is a time of question and
31:32
answer. Actually, there's a whole series
31:34
we're doing right now. A few months back I had students
31:37
in their small groups write down questions they had about God,
31:41
questions they had about the Bible, questions about life.
31:44
And there were over 75 questions submitted that weekend, much
31:48
more than I would ever get through in one service.
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So what I told them to be faithful is that I'll just
31:54
dedicate our weekend services. We're almost done, but I would
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dedicate the rest of our weekend services of this year at least
32:00
to answer these questions. This past weekend, the question
32:04
came up, Does God really give us everything we asked for?
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What a hard prayer, right? Because I think of my my life
32:12
verse when I was not walking with the Lord, I had a guy
32:16
evangelizing to me. He bought me a Bible after, you
32:19
know, we never, we stopped getting any direct, any
32:22
trajectory as I just was like, you know, I don't really believe
32:25
what you believe. I don't believe that Jesus is
32:27
the only way. And he said, well, if I buy you
32:30
a Bible, will you receive it? And so I said, yeah, so he got
32:34
me this Bible he wrote in the cover.
32:36
He said you'll never know what's true until you read and judge
32:39
for yourself. And then he wrote what has
32:41
become my life verse Ask and it'll be given to you.
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Seek and you will find knock and it'll be open to you.
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It goes on to say whoever asks to him who asks is it is given
32:53
to him who seeks finds and to him who knocks, it will be
32:56
opened. Or you know, in John chapter, I
32:59
believe in John chapter 14 where Jesus says you ask anything in
33:02
my name and it'll be done for you.
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However, if you've been in the Lord for more than 5 minutes,
33:09
you know you've prayed for something and you didn't get the
33:12
answer you were hoping for, right?
33:14
So how do we reconcile that in prayer?
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Because again, maybe I'm just being super transparent and
33:19
vulnerable up here, but you know what that does?
33:21
When I pray and things don't go as I was hoping or wanting, it
33:25
didn't get answered that way. It hinders my prayer life.
33:29
It it's hard to pray it it, it damages sometimes my confidence.
33:33
And I'm sure I'm not completely alone in that idea.
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But you know, one of the ways I answered that to the students is
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I just reminded them and I reminded myself that of course,
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yes, the simple answer is, you know, his will be done.
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It is we pray it in accordance with God's will that his he
33:51
always gets the final word. But what is that?
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You know, when Jesus said you ask anything in my name and
33:55
it'll be done? Well, he also to be a disciple
33:59
right He says take up your cross daily and follow after me and
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and you know, we got to know that his will.
34:05
Yeah, of course is is much greater than our own to deny
34:08
self to follow after him and those again as challenging as
34:13
they are. I look back here for David.
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He just is having this personal time of petition before God and
34:20
and a point a take away. But here in verse 8, he says,
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when you said seek my face, my heart said to you, your face
34:29
Lord, I will seek. And a point I would like to draw
34:33
from there is to remind us to guard our personal devotion and
34:38
quiet time with the Lord. In the busyness of life, there's
34:43
so much that is combating for our time and combating for our
34:47
attention. And when you take your eyes off
34:50
the Lord or the time you have devoted and dedicated, there's
34:55
no wonder we start to lack confidence again.
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It kind of goes back to the previous point of practice,
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right? But even here in this time of
35:03
prayer, prayer is part of that practice and just really put it
35:07
guarding that personal time with the Lord.
35:09
But even in addition to just reading my Bible and praying,
35:13
because those are great practice tools and principles, but read
35:17
my Bible, pray and then put it to practice, right, to actively
35:22
serve. Even that idea of hey, take up
35:25
my cross, Jesus said and follow after me that I know that
35:29
serving him is going to come at a sacrifice.
35:32
It's not going to come at my own convenience.
35:34
And those are the challenges we face, right?
35:36
And I believe again in this confidence in the Lord that we
35:39
have to recognize his will be done as God wants all of of us.
35:43
He wants all of me, He wants all of you.
35:46
And to have that life of full surrender so that quiet time,
35:50
that devotion, God would say not to compromise that to remain
35:55
confident in him. And I look at verse 10, out of
35:59
all these prayer petition that has gone up in what we just
36:02
read. You know, David said when my
36:04
father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of
36:08
me. You know, the Bible doesn't
36:10
mention much about how his parents might have forsaken him.
36:13
I believe that one point when he was on the run, he had to move
36:17
to a certain region and maybe he felt it was one of those mind
36:21
battles where he just felt that they had left him, felt that
36:24
they had forsaken him, whatever that is.
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I was reminded of Hebrews chapter 13.
36:30
If you turn over to the book of Hebrews chapter 13 and what I
36:36
believe that we're seeing back there in Psalm 27 is David just
36:41
knowing that his true confidence is rooted on the Lord and not
36:45
upon others. His true confidence is rooted on
36:48
the Lord and not upon others. What's cool about Hebrews
36:51
chapter 13 and verse 5 through 6 is the author here of Hebrews is
36:56
actually going to pull a section out of what we just read of
36:59
Psalm 27, but hear it with me. And Hebrews 13 verse 5 and 6
37:05
says to let your conduct be without covetousness, be content
37:09
with such things as you have. For he himself said, I will
37:13
never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say, or you can
37:18
use the word confident. We can confidently say, the Lord
37:22
is my helper. I will not fear.
37:25
What can man do to me? What a great Psalm or excuse me,
37:29
what a great section there Scripture in Hebrews going back
37:33
to Psalm 27 right as we look at that in a simple point before we
37:39
move on to our final one is just to simply remember God hears and
37:44
answers prayer. If your prayer life has been
37:47
hindered. This is just a maybe this is
37:50
what you needed to hear today is just get back into that closet
37:53
or get back into that room or in your car or in that quiet time,
37:57
that space where you talk to God and and just get back to it
38:03
because God hears and he'll answer.
38:05
And so they're looking at now we, we've saw three points,
38:10
right of how to grow in our confidence of the Lord.
38:12
We have the pep talk verse one through 3.
38:15
We have practice verse 4 through 6.
38:17
We have prayer in verse 7 through 12.
38:20
And here this final word is patience.
38:24
Patience in verse 13 through 14 as David closes this, it's
38:30
almost like you know the pep talk to himself is it's almost
38:34
like as it turns now to the congregation, he turns as almost
38:38
like the coach and he says, you know I would have lost heart
38:43
unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the
38:46
Lord in the land of the of the living wait on the Lord be of
38:50
good courage and he shall strengthen your heart.
38:53
Wait I say on the Lord. I also like the that Bible that
38:58
I was given by the way, was the NIV.
39:00
I know it's not a very preferred translation, but I have a
39:05
special appreciation for the NIV because that was the first Bible
39:08
I ever read through cover to cover.
39:10
I was a Bible that I had when I first got saved and this
39:14
particular verse verse, Psalm 27, verse 13 in the NIV actually
39:19
uses this statement. I remain confident of this that
39:23
I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
39:28
And so I again, a point, a take away is to be confident that God
39:33
is indeed good because we'll say that in church, right?
39:36
We'll say God is good. And you'll say all the time and
39:39
all the time God is good. And you know, I believe that.
39:42
I think we believe that in our head, right?
39:44
And we know that inherently. But this is one of those things
39:49
to just let it be more than just what I believe in, say in my
39:53
head, but really live that out that God is indeed good.
39:57
God is indeed good. I think of Job if there's a
40:01
couple verses in the book. Of Job, we'll pop it up on the
40:04
screen. You can turn there if you like.
40:06
But Job chapter 13, Job chapter 13 I I think of Job in the midst
40:12
before he had any idea what was happening or why the things that
40:16
were happening were happening. He had this statement.
40:19
He said, though he slay me yet I will trust him.
40:25
Though he slay me, yet I will trust him.
40:28
Or then later in Job chapter 19 verse 25, in Job chapter 19
40:33
verse 25, he would say, for I know that my Redeemer lives, and
40:38
he shall stand at last on the earth.
40:40
And if you know anything about Job, he has all the reason to
40:44
for his confidence to be struck, to be struck down and to be
40:48
stifled. But even in the midst of the
40:50
deepest, darkest pain a person could ever go through, he held
40:55
on to this glimpse of the goodness of God.
40:57
That though he slay me, I will yet trust him.
41:00
That I know this. That As for me, I know my
41:04
Redeemer lives as you know, closing out in Psalm 27.
41:09
You know, David here, as he pins this, as he writes it, he says,
41:15
I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see
41:18
the goodness of the Lord and the land of the living.
41:21
And, and it's good. I think it is a good thing for
41:24
us to recall to mind that yes, we get to experience the
41:29
goodness and the abundance of God here and now.
41:32
John chapter 10 verse 10. Jesus said I've come that they
41:35
can have life and have it abundantly and God has good
41:38
plans for us on this side of eternity.
41:41
But you know, we have even a little more information than
41:44
David did when he penned this Psalm.
41:46
We look back on the finished work of Jesus Christ.
41:50
That is Jesus came to defeat the consequences of sin as the Son
41:55
of God. If you guys didn't hear the
41:56
message this past weekend from Pastor Josh Sorenson, a great
41:59
message in line with Christmas, I'd encourage you if you didn't
42:02
hear it, go back and listen to it because it just paints this
42:06
great picture of how and why Jesus came to this earth as the
42:10
Son of God. And you know, again, looking at
42:13
that, to know that he defeated the consequences of our sin,
42:17
that which separates us from God, but he also defeated death
42:21
because as Jesus was crucified on that cross, he rose again on
42:25
the third day. And you know what started the
42:28
our question and answer service I was teaching upstairs and what
42:32
started our question and answer service was a statement I made
42:36
as we were going through a parable.
42:38
And I made this statement to the students.
42:39
I said that everything in heaven is better than anything on
42:44
earth. Everything in heaven is better
42:47
than anything on earth. And I love what David said that
42:50
I would have lost heart unless I believe that I see the goodness
42:53
of God in the land of the living.
42:55
But Colossians chapter 3, verse 2, it says to think about the
42:59
things of heaven and not the things of earth because you know
43:02
that yes, as God has great plans for me here and now, there's
43:06
even better plans yet ahead. There's even greater things in
43:10
the in light of eternity and life everlasting with him.
43:15
So everything in heaven is better than anything on earth.
43:19
As we think of this this term, patience, it's one of the most
43:22
difficult things to do to be patient in the waiting.
43:25
Again, if you didn't hear the message this past weekend,
43:28
Pastor Josh did a great job just diving into the, the challenges
43:32
really, right, The challenges of, of waiting and how difficult
43:37
it is to wait on the Lord. But you're confident when you're
43:41
confident in the Lord that he's in control, you get to
43:44
experience this peace in the waiting.
43:46
No matter how difficult it is, when you're confident the Lord
43:49
is in control, you get peace in the waiting.
43:53
And I gave this final take away that being confident in the Lord
43:57
is believing the God who created the universe also controls it.
44:02
And it's simple. It's a simple truth.
44:04
It's a basic thing, but again, we look at when we're when we're
44:09
when my, my, my confidence in the Lord is is stifled.
44:13
It's probably that I just lost this simple reality that the
44:17
Lord who created the God who created this universe also
44:22
controls it. So depending on where you stand
44:25
today, depending on how the condition of your heart and how
44:28
you came in, that is probably determining how God wants to use
44:32
what you just heard today. Out of those 4 words of the pep
44:36
talk, of practice, of prayer, and of patience.
44:41
Does He want to establish something in you to establish
44:45
your confidence in the Lord? Does He want to restore your
44:48
confidence in the Lord, or does He want to grow your confidence
44:52
in Him? Right, But whatever that is, I'm
44:55
reminded of Proverbs chapter 3, verse 26 or it says, for the
44:59
Lord will be your confidence and He will keep your foot from
45:04
being caught. As we close off today, you know,
45:08
again looking back, just the first verse of Psalm 27 or it
45:13
says that the Lord is my light and my salvation.
45:18
Whom shall I fear? The Lord is my light and my
45:21
salvation. Whom shall I fear?
45:24
You know, I start just as we as we close again, if there's
45:27
anyone in this room or listening or watching online that you
45:31
don't know the Lord, I want to share a couple of verses with
45:34
you that the Lord is my light and my salvation.
45:37
John chapter 8, verse 12. John chapter 8 verse 12 would
45:42
tell us this and Jesus is speaking here and he says I am
45:50
the light of the world, that he who follows me shall not walk in
45:54
darkness, but have the light of life.
45:58
And I would just encourage you to let the Lord be your
46:02
salvation, that you no longer have to walk and live in
46:06
darkness or in your own way, in your own ability, but let the
46:11
Lord be the light of your life. It is, you know, again, the
46:14
psalmist says he is my light and salvation.
46:16
Acts chapter 4, verse 12. You know, Speaking of Jesus, it
46:22
says that there is salvation and there is nor is there salvation
46:26
in any other. For there is no other name under
46:29
heaven given among men which we must be saved.
46:33
And just as I was debating with that guy in my early 20s of why
46:38
I didn't believe in Jesus, because I felt like there had to
46:41
be other ways, God had to chip that that deception away from my
46:46
heart to know that there is only one way and that is through the
46:49
Lord Jesus Christ. And that if you don't know
46:52
Jesus, that is just to confess before him that you have fallen
46:57
short of a holy God and of a perfect standard, and that you
47:02
would surrender your heart to him.
47:03
That you would believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
47:05
came to this earth 2000 years ago, born to this humble family.
47:11
But as the Son of God lived a life we could not perfect in
47:15
his, in his humanity, keeping his deity, remaining God through
47:21
it all and being forsaken by the Father, crucified on a cross,
47:27
buried, but rising again on the third day, saying anyone who
47:31
confesses in me and believes in me shall have everlasting life.
47:37
I know that there's many. And if you know, if that's you
47:39
today, what I would just encourage is as we go into this
47:42
last song, or as the last song ends, come up here, There's
47:45
pastors, there's prayer team, and we'd love to pray and lead
47:48
you in a prayer that you can make your faith your own, that
47:51
you can begin your journey with God today.
47:54
But again, I'll speak, you know, back in Psalm 27, You know, the
47:58
Lord is my light in my salvation.
48:00
Whom shall I fear? As I believe that a predominant
48:02
part of our audience today are those who have surrendered your
48:05
heart to the Lord. You know, I there's this idea
48:09
that fear is a prison and we all struggle in some level of worry
48:16
and a fear. And I just would encourage you
48:19
today. I would encourage you with the
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things that you're struggling with, the things that are strike
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that have stricken up worry or fear in your life.
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I want to remind you of second Timothy chapter one, verse 7,
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Second Timothy chapter one, verse seven, that for God has
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not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of
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a sound mind. And maybe that's the pep talk
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you need to have between you and the Lord.
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And just you remind yourself with that fear, with that worry,
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with that struggle, and you just have to stand before the Lord
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and worship in prayer, putting things to practice patiently and
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say, God, I know you have not given me a spirit of fear, but
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of love, power, and of a sound mind.
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Let's pray together. So God, so we take your word as
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we hear it, as we receive it. I know and trust Holy Spirit,
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that you're doing the work you desire to do in each of us
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individually and whatever position we're in that today, if
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we need to establish our confidence, if we need to
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restore our confidence. I pray for those here today
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who've been rocked and shaken for one reason or another, God,
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that you'd meet them to restore that confidence for us that are
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maybe standing strong. We know we're not there, God, we
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want to continue to grow and the things you have for us.
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And so I pray God first for those who do not know you, God,
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that this would be the day, this would be the moment that they
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surrender their heart to you, Jesus, for, for once for all,
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for all eternity, that like David and like so many in this
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room, they can declare the Lord is my light and my salvation.
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And God, for those of us that are struggling with with some
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kind of news or some kind of struggle, some kind of worry,
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God, just remind us, you have not given us that spirit of
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fear. So help us God, to walk in the
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identity you've given of power, of love and of a sound mind.
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We ask that we receive that and we declare that in the mighty
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name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
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Amen. God bless you, Church.
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We we pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
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delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
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prayer. Call us at 87730 grace that's
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877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
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integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
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this week.