Praying for Grace

Good morning.

My name is Matthew Capone and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church

and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.

If you are new or visiting with us, welcome.

We are glad that you're here and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying

to fill seats but because we're following after Jesus together as one community.

And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good

that they don't need God's grace and no one so bad that they can't have it.

Which means that God has something to say to everyone in his word and so that's why we come

to this portion of our service.

We take a look at what God has to say to us in the Bible.

We're convinced and we believe that he has something to say to people who have been Christians

their entire lives.

He has something to say to people who have been Christians only for a short amount of

time and he has something to say to people who would not consider themselves Christians,

people who have doubts and questions and objections to Christianity.

God looks at all of those things in his word and so that's why we come to it today, this

morning together.

You know that we're in the book of Psalms this summer and I say this summer because I've

gotten a few questions about how long we're going to be in the book of Psalms.

I started at Psalm 1 and then I've just been going one after the other.

And if you know the book of Psalms well, you know that if I kept doing that, we'd be here

for over three years.

Now that wouldn't be bad news, but I do want to let you know that we are going to be going

to the book of 1 Peter come fall.

So it's great to do Psalms during the summer because they are one once-off units.

Makes it helpful if you have a guest preacher coming in.

It's helpful to take small bites out of the Psalms from time to time.

So we took a bite out of the Psalms in December.

We're taking a bite out of the Psalms now and there may be some point in the future I'll

reserve the right to take the bite out of the Psalms again.

But fear not, we won't be here for three years.

However, I hope that many of you will be here three years from now.

That being said, I've given you guys a lot of different images of ways to think about

the Psalms.

It is the hymn book, the prayer book of God's people in the Old Testament.

It was what people in the Old Testament used to worship God and it's continued in the New

Testament.

The book of Psalms is quoted in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament book.

And it's hard to summarize because it talks about so many different things as any hymn

book or prayer book would.

So it's the standard operating procedure for the Christian life.

It's something that makes complicated things simple since it's poetry.

I've talked a couple times about the ways that it's sort of like an Impressionist painting

by Monet where there's differences between each painting but also things that are the same.

And I'm going to give you a new category this morning and it's this.

The Psalms are not just all of those things but the Psalms also teach us how to pray.

If you've noticed, all the Psalms that we've studied except for Psalm 1 and 2, which were

introductions, were actually prayers, at least in part.

Now part of this Psalm is a prayer, part of it's not a prayer.

But if we want to learn how to pray, the Psalms perhaps teach us more than any other book

because they give us different situations and then they show us, okay, in this specific

situation, this is how you should pray.

So for example, we saw last week we had an imprecatory Psalm, which is a fancy way of saying

a Psalm that asks for God's justice and His judgment.

And that Psalm models for us how do we pray when we face evil in the world and we need

God to bring justice.

Psalms 3 and 4 were Psalms of lament.

So how do we pray when we come up against difficult situations in life?

How do we have hope in those situations?

And now with this Psalm, we're going to be in Psalm 6.

We have a new category.

And that is a penitential Psalm.

And that's a fancy way of saying this is a Psalm that asks God for forgiveness for sins.

It's a Psalm that asks God for His forgiveness for sins.

It's also a lament Psalm.

So sometimes these Psalm categories overlap because the Psalmist is asking for God's help

because he finds himself in a bad situation.

However, this bad situation, unlike the other bad situations, seemed to involve the Psalmist's

personal sin.

In Psalms 2 and 3, the Psalmist had enemies who were coming up against him.

He wasn't talking about his personal sin.

In Psalm 6, he is.

Now it's unclear if he's talking about sin that has led him into a bad situation or whether

he's in a bad situation and it reminds him of his sin.

So it could be either one of those and I'll explain.

So if it's situation number one, if it's a situation where it's a result of sin, it could

be this is someone who has worked seven days and never rested, as we've talked about in

the past, and his body is broken as a result.

It could be someone whose marriage falls apart because they neglected it.

Because instead of loving their spouse, they hated their spouse.

It could be someone who faces bankruptcy because of financial recklessness.

Or it could be someone who has lied so much that no one in their family trusts them anymore

and all their relationships have fallen apart.

Regardless of what it is, it could be someone who, because of their own sin, has come to

a situation that is terrible.

In this specific situation in Psalm 6, it seems to be a health issue.

However, they also talk about their soul being troubled.

So it seems to be this holistic sorrow and grief.

However, because the psalm is not clear about whether that's the result or the cause of

this lament, it could also be that the psalmist has found himself in a difficult situation

that is not a result of his sin, but has caused him to realize his sin.

In other words, I know and many of you know people who have come back to God and come back

to the church not because they have done something wrong, but because they've met suffering in

their lives and it's reminded them of their need for God's grace.

It's reminded them of the presence of sin in the world.

So I'm not saying that returning to church is the point.

I'm saying that suffering sometimes reorients us to reality.

Some of you have experienced this.

Maybe things were going well in life.

You didn't feel like you had any need for God and then suddenly you lost your job.

I know someone who was in a situation similar to that and one of the first things they did

was they went back to church.

Because that loss of that job, that suffering in their life helped them remember and realize

the reality of sin in the world, the fact that they needed God and his grace.

This happens often for people with severe sickness.

So sometimes you'll have sickness in your life like the psalmist does here.

It's not a result of your specific sin, but it still reminds you of the reality of death.

And that reminder of the reality of death reminds you of the reality of sin.

And so it helps you remember your need for God's grace, the fact that your sin deserves

God's punishment.

And yet he's offered his son as a sacrifice to pay the penalty.

So there's all kinds of situations that bring us to this psalm.

Whether it's someone who is in sin and their sin has brought them to suffering, or whether

it's someone who's suffering and their suffering has helped them realize sin, what we know is

that this psalm talks about a situation that seems to be life-threatening.

The psalmist is afraid for his life.

Things are that bad.

And regardless of how he got there, it returns him to talk to God about his sin.

He is facing severe suffering that reminds him of death and brings him face to face with

the reality of his sin and his need for God's grace.

And so that's the situation that we're coming up against with this psalm.

And so with that in mind, we're going to read together Psalm 6.

You'll find it printed in your worship guide.

You'll also find it probably on your phone or maybe on your Bible.

So I invite you to turn there with me.

And as we come, remember that this is God's word.

And God's word, God tells us that his word is more precious than gold, even the finest

gold.

And he also tells us that it's sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from

the honeycomb.

And so because of that, we read it now.

I invite you to follow along with me, starting at verse 1.

Oh, Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.

Be gracious to me, oh, Lord, for I am languishing.

Heal me, oh, Lord, for my bones are troubled.

My soul also is greatly troubled.

But you, oh, Lord, how long?

Verse 4.

Turn, oh, Lord, deliver my life.

Save me for the sake of your steadfast love.

For in death there is no remembrance of you.

In Sheol, who will give you praise?

Verse 6.

I am weary with my moaning.

Every night I flood my bed with tears.

I drench my couch with my weeping.

My eye wastes away because of grief.

It grows weak because of all my foes.

Verse 8.

Depart from me, all you workers of evil.

For the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.

The Lord has heard my plea.

The Lord accepts my prayer.

All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled.

They shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Father in heaven, we thank you that you're not surprised.

You are not surprised by the situations that we face.

You're not surprised by the suffering that enters our lives.

You don't forget about us even when we may have forgotten about you.

And you don't walk away from us even when we walk away from you.

So we thank you for the reminder that these psalms are of your faithfulness and your compassion.

We ask that you would help us this morning to see what you have for us in your word.

That you would show us our desperate need for your grace and your forgiveness.

And you would also show us how you meet us at that very same point of need.

How you come and help us when we're suffering but we cry out to you.

We ask these things not because we have earned them, but because Jesus has earned them for us.

And so we ask them in his name.

Amen.

I have mentioned to you all before that while I grew up on the East Coast, I was born in Texas.

And the reason I was born in Texas is because at the time that I was born, my parents were teaching at a university there.

They had a relatively short stint as college professors, after which we moved to the East Coast.

But during that time, they got to learn a little bit about the game of teaching college and the game of being a student in college.

And so when we, their sons, went off to college, they gave us the talk.

And the talk was the talk of how you interact with college professors.

Speaking from their experience, having been on the other side, they knew how to guide us in the right way.

And one of the things they told us over and over again was this.

If you ever get in trouble, if you're ever struggling in a class, if you're ever afraid that you're not going to pass,

there is one thing that you have to do.

You have to go and talk to the professor.

Because if you go and talk to a professor, they might be willing to help you.

They might be willing to work with you.

They might see your interest in the class.

They might understand that you're really trying the best that you can.

And they might try to help you and they might show mercy to you.

If you never talk to the professor and then you're failing quizzes and you're failing exams,

they will have no mercy for you.

And so you should not be surprised if at the end of the semester you end up with an F,

if you end up failing.

You end up with a D minus or a C or whatever that grade is that you don't want.

So you show up, you ask for help.

And if there's office hours, you use them.

And if there's study sessions, you go to them.

Because my parents understood as former college professors how important this was.

That they knew from their own experience that when they had students who were struggling,

the students who didn't tell them, who didn't come and ask for help,

those students they assumed often, maybe they didn't care, maybe they weren't trying.

But for whatever reason, there was no opportunity for them to show them mercy.

And so we knew this going.

I used this at one point.

My brothers, at least one of my brothers, used this advice at one point.

And it ended up being very helpful.

And so there's a principle here that we see in this psalm as well,

which is that mercy comes through relationships,

and it comes to people who ask for it.

Mercy comes through relationships,

and it comes to people who ask for it.

And in addition to that, mercy is only available to people who ask for it.

Mercy is only available to people who ask for it.

The psalmist in this psalm,

understanding the severity of the situation that he's in,

the very first thing he does is he talks to God.

We see this all the way in verses 1 through 4.

The very first part of this psalm is in address,

O Lord.

Verse 2, O Lord.

Verse 3, O Lord.

Verse 4, you guessed it, O Lord.

The psalmist finds himself in this very challenging situation,

and the first thing he does is he comes and he speaks to God in prayer.

He's asking here at the very beginning for mercy.

Rebuke me not, nor discipline me.

Be gracious to me.

Heal me.

Turn, O Lord.

Verse 4, deliver my life.

And so at the very beginning,

if we find ourselves,

when we find ourselves face-to-face with the reality of sin,

whether it's in the world,

and it causes us to realize the sin in our lives,

or it's sin in our lives that causes us to realize the consequences

and the seriousness of it,

the very first thing God does is he calls us to talk to him and ask for mercy.

The psalms teach us how to pray.

Now, I had a meeting with someone outside of our church recently,

and they were asking me some questions

because they knew that I was a pastor,

and so they thought,

well, I have a pastor here,

so I'm going to just tell them what's on my mind and see what they say.

And so the question that they had was,

first of all, does prayer change things?

And second of all, if prayer changes things,

why in the world is that okay?

The first answer is easy.

Yes, prayer changes things.

Their objection about why it was okay was essentially,

why is it that if God knows everything,

why do I have to pray to him?

Why do I need to talk to him

since God is the omniscient, all-powerful one?

And if my talking changes things,

how is that fair in any sense?

So I explained it this way.

God is not just some abstract being.

If you believe in the Christian God,

you believe in a person.

You believe in a person,

and sin is not just a problem of justice,

although it is,

but it's also a relational problem

that we are alienated from God,

that our problems in this world

are problems of broken relationships.

Some people break it into four different quadrants.

We have a broken relationship with ourselves.

We have a broken relationship with God.

We have a broken relationship with the world.

And then we have a broken relationship with others.

And so does prayer change things?

And if it does,

how is that okay?

And the answer is this.

We should not be surprised

when our relationship with God

functions like any other relationship.

God's a person,

and so we should never be surprised

when our relationship with God

functions like any other relationship.

relationship.

This is only what makes sense

in any other situation.

You would never think about your friend,

or maybe you do,

and if you do, you'd be wrong.

This person understands the situation,

therefore, they should act.

And I don't have to go and talk to them.

I don't need to go explain it to them.

I don't need to say anything about it.

They know I'm just going to leave it to them.

Now, some of you do do that

in your relationships.

relationships.

You can't blame someone

for not acting on something

you didn't tell them.

And you can't blame someone

for not knowing something

you didn't tell them.

And so this psalm,

first of all,

shows us that if we find ourselves,

if we come up against

the reality of sin and suffering,

we have to talk to God.

We have to pray to Him.

That is what prayer is.

And that is part of why

the psalms are so important.

That's part of why

we're spending a summer in the psalms.

Not three years, but a summer.

It's because it's a critical book,

perhaps the most critical book,

for us to understand

what it's like to talk to God.

When we went through the psalms

in December,

I told you several times

that the psalms are models

of what it looks like

for us to talk to God.

God's a person.

Our relationship with Him

functions like any other relationship.

And so we follow the model

of the psalmist here

by talking to Him.

This psalm, however,

does not just show us

our need to talk to God.

It doesn't just show us

our need to ask Him.

It also shows us

how and what we ask Him for.

It shows us

how and what we ask Him for,

especially,

and specifically,

in this psalm,

when we're tempted to despair.

When we're tempted to despair,

facing the reality

of sin and evil

in the world.

And it sounds like,

in this psalm,

the sound of reality

and evil in the psalmist's life.

He tells us in verse 2,

I'm languishing,

my bones are troubled,

he's experiencing physical symptoms.

Verse 3,

my soul is also troubled,

he's experiencing psychological,

emotional symptoms.

Verses 6 and 7,

I'm weary with my moaning,

every night I flood my bed with tears.

I drench my couch with my weeping.

My eye wastes away because of grief,

it goes weak because of all my foes.

So how do we talk to God

when we feel like that?

When we feel like verses 6 and 7?

When we understand

the reality of sin

and our need for God's grace.

Well, the first thing the psalmist does

is he appeals to God's mercy.

Verse 4,

Turn, O Lord,

deliver my life,

save me for the sake

of your steadfast love.

And this steadfast love

is the same word

that we saw last summer,

actually this time.

It was this time last year

that we were in the book of Ruth

and we talked about God's

never stopping,

never giving up,

unbreaking,

always and forever love.

And if you recall,

that's the Jesus Storybook Bible's

translation of the Hebrew word hesed.

And so the psalmist appeals

to God's unbreaking,

unfailing,

never giving up love.

And he appeals to it in verse 4

because of verse 1.

He appeals to God's love,

who I would refer to

as the good news of the gospel,

because of the bad news of the gospel.

Verse 1,

Rebuke me not in your anger,

nor discipline me in your wrath.

For the psalmist to understand

the seriousness of sin in the world,

it means that he understands

that God has anger and wrath.

And he knows that what he's experiencing

is the effect of God's anger and wrath.

And he also knows that God's anger

and his wrath is something

that is directed at him.

And so he appeals to God's mercy here.

Now we talked about God's anger

and his wrath last Sunday

with Psalm 5,

the psalm asking for God's judgment

and his justice.

And still,

God's anger and wrath

is something that's troubling

for many people in this culture,

in our culture.

And so I'll just say a couple things.

If you struggle with the God of wrath

and anger,

what would you think

of a ruler or a king

who refused

to punish the wicked?

What would you think

of a ruler or a king

who refused

to punish the wicked?

Would you consider that

to be a good ruler

or a bad ruler?

It's a rhetorical question.

Last week in Psalm 5,

I believe it was verse 5,

it said,

God hates all evildoers.

Let's look at it

from the other side.

Would you want a ruler

who did not hate evil?

Do you want the governor,

the mayor of Colorado Springs,

the governor of Colorado

to be someone

who loves evil,

who doesn't hate it,

and who turns a blind eye

to the wicked and the unjust?

Just like our relationship

with God

is like any other relationship.

Now, there are things

that are different

about our relationship

with God,

but in terms of the relational

aspects of it,

we should not expect

it to be different.

God as king

is no different

from any other good king.

And so like any good king,

any good ruler,

his job is to hate evil

and to bring justice.

What's offensive

about the gospel,

what's hard about Christianity

is all of us agree

that we want evil

to be done away

within this world.

What we don't agree about

is our role in that evil.

To become a Christian,

to turn away from sin

in repentance

is to acknowledge

that we play a part

in the evil in this world.

That it's not just people

out there

who deserve God's judgment

and his justice,

but it's also us.

And so that's why

the psalmist knows

and understands

the bad news

of the gospel

in verse 1.

Rebuke me not in your anger

nor discipline me

in your wrath.

But he also understands

the good news

of the gospel.

He knows that God

is not just a God

of justice,

but he's also

a God of love.

And so that's why

in verse 4,

he appeals to God's

steadfast love.

In other words,

he understands

that he doesn't deserve

God's favor.

And he doesn't deserve

God's deliverance,

and so that's why

it's called mercy.

That's why he asks God

in verse 2

to be gracious to him.

deliver my life.

Save me for not,

don't save me

for the sake

of everything

that I've done.

Don't save me

because I'm a good person.

Don't save me

because I've done

a wonderful job

raising my children.

Don't save me

because I'm

an excellent employee.

Don't save me

because I care

about the right causes.

Don't save me

because I donate

to the right organizations.

No, save me

for the sake

of your steadfast love.

This is why

as Christians,

we pray,

when we end our prayers,

we say,

we ask these things

in Jesus' name.

Whenever we pray

and ask things

in Jesus' name,

we are confessing

that the things

that we need

that we're asking

from God

are things

that we don't deserve.

Instead,

verse 1,

we deserve God's anger

and his wrath,

but because of Jesus,

God offers us

his steadfast love.

In other words,

everyone who has

faith in Jesus,

who has knowledge

about the fact

that Jesus came

and died

and paid the penalty

for our sins,

who believes that,

has belief,

not just knowledge,

but knows that it's true,

and then has trust,

lives their life

as if it's true,

that person

has God's steadfast love.

And so just like

it would not be

a good strategy

to go to your college professor

and tell them

you're a terrible professor,

the reason I'm not

passing this class

is because you can't teach.

I'm an excellent student.

I've made A's

in every other class.

I can't understand

why you can't give me an A.

Although there are

college students

who do that.

No, the right approach

is to say,

I am struggling

and I need help.

What I have and do

is not enough,

and that's what the psalmist

is doing in this psalm.

So if we are talking to God,

the first thing we do

is we appeal

to his mercy.

We understand

the bad news

of the gospel.

We also know

the good news

of the gospel.

The psalmist

doesn't just appeal

to God's mercy,

though he also appeals

to God's mission

in verse 5.

For in death

there is no remembrance

of you.

In shale,

who will give you praise?

In other words,

if you do not deliver me,

if I do not experience

your steadfast love,

our relationship

is going to end.

I am going to be

cut off from you.

When I die,

I will be cut off from you.

And I will no longer

be able to give you praise.

As we looked at

in December,

the very end

of the psalter

ends with multiple

psalms of praise

because that is the end

of the Christian life.

And you may remember

we talked about

the modern forms

of praise,

one of which

is the Amazon.com review,

where you extol

the benefits

of the things

that you love.

And so in this verse,

verse 5,

we're not talking about

some boring activity

in life,

but we are talking about

when we talk about praise,

understanding

and living out

and praising God

for everything

that he is

and has done

and has created

in this world.

It's enjoying

all the goodness

that God's given us

and then giving him

the credit for it.

It's enjoying

all the good things

that God has given us

and giving him

the credit for it.

That's God's,

one of the pieces

of God's mission

in the world.

We talked about this

in Nehemiah

that he gave

the Israelites

to the ancient

Near Eastern world

that they would be

a light to the nations

that everyone

would know

and see

what it's like

when God's people

walk in God's ways.

And so the psalmist

here doesn't just appeal

to God's mercy

but God's mission.

He says,

this is what you want

for the world.

You want people

who praise you.

And so I appeal

to your love

and your faithfulness

on the one hand.

I appeal to what you love

on the other hand.

And so we can do that as well.

If we're appealing

for God's mercy,

we're appealing

not just for him

to save us from sin

and the consequences

of evil,

we're also praying

that he would give us

over to

all the good things

that he has for us

in this world.

He would give us to,

and so we're appealing

to what God loves.

It would be as if

you go to someone

and you're trying

to get them

to enlist

in your cause.

Well, you need to figure out

why they care

about your cause.

If I told you

I want you to come

and I want you

to give me

$500,

well, you would want

to know,

well, why do you

want $500?

And why do I care

about the thing

that I'm giving

$500 to?

I'd have to convince you

this is for something

that you love.

Let me think.

This is in Colorado Springs

and that's the city

that you live in

and there's this problem

that you're experiencing

and these $500

are going to help

alleviate that problem.

I'm appealing

to something that you love.

I'm appealing

to your mission.

That's what the psalmist

does in verse 5.

Who will give you praise?

You're a God

who wants this world

to be filled

with your praise.

your salvation of me

is going to give

your mission.

And so we can do

the same thing

when we pray to God

as well.

In fact,

it's a helpful paradigm.

If I'm praying

for something,

how does it relate

to what God loves

in the world?

Am I praying

for something

that is in line

with what God wants

with his mission?

That's what the psalmist

does here.

He talks to God.

He talks to God

because our relationship

with God

is like any other

relationship.

When he talks to God,

he appeals to God's mercy

because he knows

that's the only footing

he has.

That outside of God's mercy,

all that awaits him

is anger and wrath.

And he also appeals

to God's mission

because he goes

that God's mission

is connected

with his steadfast love.

That his mission

is to save this world.

To do away

with evil

fully and finally.

And for this world

to be filled

with the praise

and enjoyment

of God.

And I mentioned

at the beginning

that the psalms

teach us how to pray

but they're not

all prayers

or they're not

entirely prayers.

And the psalmist's prayer

ends here

in verse 5.

His prayer is finished.

Which raises the question,

what happens

after we pray?

What happens

when we pray?

What happens here

for the psalmist?

Well, after he prays,

the psalmist

has two realities.

First reality,

verses 6 and 7.

He is still

in a challenging situation.

He's still weary

with his moaning.

He's still flooding

his bed with tears.

His eyes still

waste away

because of grief.

The psalmist's prayer

does not immediately

solve his situation.

In fact,

probably many of you

have experienced this.

It is rare

that you would pray,

Lord, I need your help

in this particular situation.

And then,

three seconds later,

the situation is solved.

Often,

you are still left

in verses 6 and 7.

You're still weary

with your moaning.

However,

that's not the only reality

for the psalmist.

That's the first reality.

He's still in his situation.

There is a second reality,

verse 9

and verse 8.

The Lord has heard

the sound of my weeping.

So on the one hand,

I'm still weeping.

On the other hand,

God has heard it.

Verse 9,

the Lord has heard my plea.

The Lord accepts my prayer.

And so the psalmist

has both of these realities

in his hand.

He has the continuing effects

of the suffering

that he's experiencing.

And he also has confidence

that God has heard him

because he's prayed.

Like any other person

or any other relationship

of someone we go to

and talk to,

he knows that God

now also knows

and understands

his concern.

Now,

there are enemies here

in this psalm.

I'm not going to talk

a ton about this.

It's not the focus

of the psalm.

Our best guess

is that these enemies

are people who are

maybe gloating

or delighting

in the fact

that the psalmist is down.

Whatever situation he's in,

they find pleasure in it.

It's not exactly clear.

It does not seem

that these workers of evil

are the ones

who've caused the situation.

There are many other psalms

for that.

In fact,

we saw one of them

in Psalm 3.

However,

he does have the confidence

now,

also in verse 8,

to say,

depart from me,

all you workers of evil.

And so,

his situation too,

his confidence in God,

his knowledge that God

has heard him

and he can trust God

for deliverance,

also allows him

to have a different

perspective on his enemies.

And so,

the point is this.

The psalmist

still lives

in the first reality.

He's prayed to God.

The situation

is still ongoing.

So,

he doesn't leave

the first reality,

but he lives

in the second reality.

He hasn't left

the first reality,

but he lives

in the second reality.

He's still weeping,

but the Lord

has heard his plea.

He is still

filled with grief,

but the Lord

has accepted his prayer.

And so,

what he's doing now

here is he's trusting.

He's trusting that

God has heard

his prayer

and that everything

God has promised

he will do,

he will do.

I was talking

to someone recently

and they told me,

you know,

the psalms are

kind of like a sitcom.

Everything gets solved

in one episode.

I'm here to tell you

this psalm

is not like a sitcom.

Everything is not solved

in this episode.

The psalmist prays

and at the end

of this psalm

he is still waiting

for God to act.

At the end

of this psalm

he is still waiting

for God's deliverance.

And so,

in some ways

this is less like a sitcom,

it's more like a Netflix show.

We've seen the first episode.

We're going to have

cliffhangers

to the very end.

And then we're going

to have a final cliffhanger

to get us to go

to the second episode

or the second season.

So,

the psalmist

doesn't leave

the first reality,

he lives in the second reality.

He does not know

the end of the story,

but he knows

that God is faithful.

He knows

that God is faithful

and he's promised

to hear his prayer.

And so,

while the situation

is not solved,

one thing is.

The psalmist knows

that he will not

ultimately face death

because of God's

steadfast love.

The psalmist knows

that he will not

ultimately face death

because of God's

steadfast love.

This is a penitential psalm,

it's a psalm

of repentance.

The psalmist knows

that God's steadfast love,

his forgiveness

is for everyone

who turns away

from their sin

in repentance

and turns back to God.

And so,

while he doesn't leave

the first situation,

he lives knowing

that God's

steadfast faithfulness

is for him.

And so,

whatever happens,

even when our mind

and our body

are failing us,

like the psalmist

is here,

we know that God's

faithfulness

is more true.

When verses 6 and 7

are true

in our lives,

we know that verses 8 and 10

are more true.

So,

we don't deny reality,

we don't have

pie-in-the-sky hope,

we don't pretend,

but we also know

that God's

steadfast love

is greater

than what the psalmist

is facing.

And so,

what does the psalmist

have because of his prayers?

Right now,

as we're in the midst

of his story

that we don't know

the end of,

we know that he has

confidence

and faith

and hope

and trust in God.

And he has

confidence

and faith

and hope

and trust in God

because he knows

God's steadfast love,

he knows his

never stopping,

never giving up,

unbreaking,

always and forever love.

And that's the confidence

that we have as well

when we come to God

in prayer

as a person

with whom we have

a relationship with

and we ask him

to deliver us,

to have forgiveness

for us,

to forgive us

of our sins,

to deliver us

from his anger

and his wrath,

knowing that God

forgives and saves

anyone and everyone

who comes to him

in repentance.

And so while we

don't necessarily

exit the situation

that we're in

at the moment,

we also live

knowing that Jesus

died so that we

could live.

We live in that faith

and that hope

and that trust

and that confidence.

Not as a magical

experience

or experiment

but because we've

prayed

and spoken

to a person

with whom we

have a relationship.

I invite you

to pray with me

now and speak

to that very

same person.

Let's pray.

Father in heaven,

we thank you again

for your word

which gives us hope.

We ask that

if we do know you,

you would grow us up,

that we would

cry out to you

and talk to you

and speak to you

more and more,

that we would

understand your care

and your concern

and your love for us.

If we don't know you,

we ask that you

would help us

to understand

the reality

of your wrath

and your discipline

but also the even

greater reality

of your forgiveness

that you offer

to us in Jesus.

I ask for everyone

here that you

would challenge us

with the truth

of your word

and you'd also

encourage us

with it.

That as you show us

our need for your grace,

you'd also show us

how you meet

and more than meet

that need

through Jesus.

We have not earned

these things

but Jesus has

and so we ask them

in his name.

Amen.