When Mindfulness Isn't Enough

Well, hello and welcome to Crowd Church's non-live livestream August series. My

name is Matt Edmundson, and I just wanted to jump on before we get started with

today's talk and tell you what's going on. So this isn't our usual Sunday

service. I know, but it is our usual August Crowd service. If you're a regular

to Crowd, you will have twigged already that we are not live. We're not in our

studio as we would usually be when we livestream. Which means I won't be

fighting the usual technical difficulties, but I may well fluff the odd line.

Just putting that out there. And here's why it's a little bit different, because

in August, half of Crowd Church kind of disappear to somewhere hot, and the

other half of us are trying to kind of figure out, well, why did we not book

somewhere, right? It is the month in the UK that most of the team get to book

their holiday because of family. So we lean in, we lean, see, messing my lines

up, we lean into that every August. And we pre-record the talks. So we don't

have the Conversation Street. We don't have Live Lounge. And the whole team just

gets to stop for the entire month of August. We think of it as our Sabbath rest.

And it's a practice we've done every year. Yeah, so that people who serve you

week in week, they get some proper Sabbath rest and you still get something

worth turning up for. The talks are actually brilliant. Uh, you'll get a lot out

of them, so make sure you keep watching on a Sunday with your cup of tea, or

possibly in August on a Wednesday afternoon when you're avoiding something

important. I don't know, whatever suits you. And of course, if you're new here

to Crowd, let me give you a big fat hello. Crowd is an online church, uh,

actually with, uh, members all over the place. Everything we do here at Crowd,

from the Sunday live stream to our midweek community groups, even the online

course for those exploring Christianity All of it is on the website, which is

www.crowd.church. Now, this August we are in the Book of Psalms for 5 weeks, 5

Psalms. These are sort of Psalms written by people that— it's the book in the

middle of the New, uh, Old Testament, uh, and there's going to be a thread

running through this, uh, series, which is what restoration actually looks like

when your life is all over the place, which Hands up if you need to hear that

right now. One more thing before we get started, make sure you stay with us to

the end of the video because there are some changes coming to Crowd starting in

September, all of them good ones. And I'm going to tell you about a few of them

after the talk. So hopefully that's created enough intrigue. But that's it.

Let's settle in. Grab your notebooks, grab your pens. Let's enjoy the talk. I'll

be back.

After this. Good evening. Today we're going to continue in our series of the

Psalms, um, looking at finding peace and using Psalm 16 for some guidance. Now,

it's fair to say we live in a busy life. In fact, a common answer to 'How are

you doing?'— the word 'busy' generally fits there in the opening statement or

thereabouts. And you know, it's, it's not surprising. 47% of adults report

feeling busier than ever according to the Office for National Statistics. We live

in an always-on culture where the boundaries between home and work life are

blurring. We're under more time pressures as parents. The, uh, the model from

the '70s and '80s, go play outside, has been replaced by a highly scheduled

string of activities and after-school clubs requiring lots of ferrying kids from

A to B to C. And when they do play outside, they need to be supervised because

times just aren't like what they used to be. Cost of living has done nothing but

go up, meaning two-income household is a necessity, which just leaves more

chores for everyone in their spare time, giving less downtime. And then on top

of that, we somehow find the time to on average spend 6 hours and 51 minutes in

front of our phone a day according to the, uh, DataReportal, um, digital report

in 2026, uh, people looking at their phones an average of 96 times a day. Now,

there are various, we'll say, peaceful strategies, things we can do to help

this. Mindfulness has become a big buzzword. The University of Bath in 2024 did

a global mindfulness study where they compared a control group versus a group

doing 30 days of mindfulness exercises, and the group that did the exercises

found, uh, reduced depression by 19% more than the control group. They found

improved well-being by 7% more. They found decreased anxiety by 13% more. And

overall, their attitudes towards health got more positive by 7%, and their

behavioural intentions to look after their health increased by 7%. So definitely

a positive impact here from mindfulness. But, you know, it's still it's, it's

limited to what it can do. Global marketing research group Ipsos and Gallup did

research into the most common lifestyle boundaries people undertake to try and

achieve some balance, and the top 3 were physical escape, prioritising walking,

exercise, or spending time in green nature and spaces to alter mood biology.

Social connection, turning to a small, deeply vetted network of family and close

friends for psychological safety And unsurprisingly, digital connection—

deliberately turning off the news cycles and the social media feeds, or even the

phone, to stop the constant flood of stress hormones. There are also coping

mechanisms. A Chinese multi-university study looked at evaluating specific

mindsets that would yield the best return on investment for life satisfaction,

inner peace. And they found two. One is gratitude disposition, which is the

structured habit of actively acknowledging and reacting to positive elements in

life, which acts as kind of a buffer against some more traumatic elements in

life. And orientation to experience, or in other words, acceptance,

psychological ability to look at a bad situation with curiosity and openness

rather than denial, which prevents long-term mental friction. As believers, we

have a little bit more to— at our disposal to counteract the stresses of a busy

life. I'm going to take a moment to read Psalm 16. Keep me safe, O God, for in

you I take refuge. I said to the Lord, you are my Lord, apart from you I have no

good thing. As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in

whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those will increase who run after other

gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my

lips. Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup. You have made my lot

secure; the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely I have

a delightful inheritance! I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night

my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is my

right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue

rejoices; My body will also rest secure because you will not abandon me to the

grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the

path of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures

at your right hand. Now Psalm 16 was written by King David, a key figure in the

Old Testament. He was revered as a warrior king and a musician in Jewish

culture. He actually has the longest running narrative in the Bible. His story

starts in 1 Samuel 16, spanning through 4 books all the way to 2 Kings chapter

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

2. In the gospel, he is closely linked with Jesus, Jesus being repetitively

referred to as the son of David. After all, Jesus's lineage trace back to David.

David is very much associated with the Psalms, and we know he wrote at least

some of them. With the Psalms, sometimes we know exactly who wrote them,

sometimes we don't. We do know that David wrote Psalm 16. We also know that

Psalm 16 is not just any old Psalm. It is referred to as a miktam

psalm. Now there are 6 of these in total. They were all written by David, and

they were all associated with life-threatening circumstances or intense trials.

Now we don't know specifically which circumstance David is referring to in this,

but it is widely believed it was when he was on the run from King Saul after

David's rise in popularity and Saul's jealousy. The precise origin and meaning of

the miktam Psalms is not fully understood, but there are quite a few theories.

So, the word is associated with the Hebrew root word ketem, meaning fine gold,

implying these Psalms are of exceptional value. If we look to early Greek

translations, the word is linked to the meaning inscription, suggesting worthy

of being carved into stone for preservation throughout time. Finally, the

Akkadian translation means to cover or hide, suggesting a hushed intimate

prayer, which, you know, if you're living in caves and you're on the run, that

hushed prayer would be consistent with trying not to get caught. Now, all of

these psalms carry the same distinct structure. They have three parts: the cry,

the surrender, and the victory. The cry is an urgent plea for deliverance, The

surrender is an acknowledgement of God as the only refuge, and the victory is a

conclusion of complete assurance in God's sovereignty. Interestingly, Psalm 16

is very much prophetic, and it is even referred to in the New Testament. So

after Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came in Acts 2, as Peter addresses the

crowd, he literally quotes Psalm 16. Verse 10, you will not abandon my soul to

Sheol or let the Holy One see corruption, proving that David was speaking

prophetically about the death of Christ. Again, Paul uses the same argument in

Acts 13, stating that because Jesus rose from the dead without decaying, as

mentioned in Psalm 16, he uniquely fulfills David's song. So Psalm 16 here is,

is one to take special note of. You know, for the author, for the— its

implication as a miktam psalm, and for its prophetic meaning as well. So in this

psalm, David makes a choice to choose God. He takes refuge in God. And the

Hebrew word for refuge, chasah, in verse 1 implies an active, deliberate flight

to a stronghold for absolute safety. We're not talking about a little hiding

spot, you know, we're heading to Fort Knox, or if you're a Lord of the Rings

fan, we're heading to Helm's Deep, the fortress built into the mountain. This is

absolute stronghold. He acknowledges all blessings come from God in verse 2, and

verse 3 goes on to find joy in God's people, finding community in God's people.

And he warns that those who chase after other gods have their sorrows

multiplied. So David makes a clear choice to choose God, and in God he finds

ultimate safety and the source of all good. He accepts his present reality. In

verse 5, he declares, the Lord is my portion and my cup. Portion, the Hebrew

word manah, refers to measured share of assigned land or duties or wealth. Cup

refers to God's provision and blessing. We say, "My cup is overflowing." It is

overflowing with blessings from God. The boundary lines he refers to, the Hebrew

word "chebel," refers to measuring cords used to divide up inherited property.

He views his circumstances as being perfectly measured by God, as if inheritance

were being divided up. So the terrible situation he is in right now, he views as

being perfectly measured by God. He takes counsel from God even in the stillness

of the night. So rather than tossing and turning with anxiety in his bed, he's

up meditating on God. He's making a deliberate choice to put God at the centre

of attention and focusing solely on him and finding contentment by focusing

solely on God and not what is happening around us. Through God, he finds

contentment and security in his present reality. And finally, David looks to a

future hope. In verse 10, he says he's confident that God will not abandon his

soul to the grave. He looks to God to reveal the ultimate victory over death. He

cultivates joy over happiness. Now, happiness is dependent on good happenings,

but joy in the biblical sense is an unshakable confidence from knowing a secure

eternal future with God. He looks joyfully to a certain future, and ultimately

and prophetically pointing to Jesus's death and resurrection on the cross

without spelling it out. So we take a moment to think about this, how we can use

this to deal with a busy life. Well, it's important to identify and remove idols

now, and other gods. Now, for us, modern idols are rarely statues. They are

things that we rely upon instead of God for security, comfort, or identity. So

When we get really stressed, where does our time, our money, and our thought go?

Does it go to online shopping, social media, and career achievement? Or do we

practice pausing to redirect our dependence and our focus to God, as in Psalm

Psalms 16:8

16:8, I will always keep my eyes on the Lord. Another thing we can do is find

contentment within our boundary lines. Are we thankful for what we have rather

than envying others? Do we compare career, relationships, or other lifestyle

factors to other on social media? No matter what circumstance we're going

through right now and how bad, we have an opportunity to grow in this. As in

James 1:2-4, consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face

James 1:2–4

trials of many kinds, because you know that testing of your faith produces

perseverance. By finding contentment within our boundary lines, we find a chance

to grow in him. Are we seeking nighttime counsel? So when we're lying awake with

anxiety, do we toss and turn? Do we doom scroll? Are we praying or meditating on

scripture? You know, Psalm 16:7: I will praise the Lord who counsels me, even at

night my heart instructs me. Where is our heart at night when the anxiety is

creeping in. We can anchor our focus. Stability doesn't happen by accident. It

requires a deliberate choice to keep God at the centre of our attention. In

order to do so, we need to be focused on God daily. We need that daily habit of

coming to his word, coming to him in prayer. Are we doing that to make God

centre of our lives, or are we just saying we're making him centre of our lives?

Finally, we can cultivate joy over happiness. As I mentioned before, happiness

depends on good happenings. Joy comes from knowing our eternal future is secure.

When things are not going well, where do we focus our thoughts? Is our joy in

the strength of the Lord? Because whatever the situation, we can find peace in

God. Where we have ultimate safety, our needs met, and a secure future. Now, as

this is a pre-recorded talk and not the usual livestream, you can still ask

questions. You just have to send them into the— to us at crowd.church via the

website, and we will get back to you. We are an online church. If you would like

to learn more, we have a Sunday night livestream, apart from in August when it's

pre-recorded. We have a live room hangout afterwards, and we have midweek Bible

study groups which are all Zoom-based, so it doesn't matter where you are. If

you would like to reach out, if you would like to come and study the word of God

with us, please get in touch. Details on how to join, again, head to

crowd.church. Have a wonderful evening. God bless.

So that's the talk, and you're going to be able to find all of the notes, a sort

of a detailed blog post about it, all on the website, which is www.crowd.church.

And of course, if you'd rather listen than watch, you know, maybe you're on the

school run, on a dog walk, washing up, whatever it is, every talk goes out as a

podcast. Just search Crowd Church not Crowd.Church, that's our website. Search

Crowd Church wherever you get your podcasts from. I reference back my previous

point about fluffing lines. Now I did say at the start that there were some

changes coming to Crowd, so do let me tell you about them. Number 1, Live

Lounge. Now normally Live Lounge is a chance to jump and chat to the team, to

jump on a call and chat with members of the team after the live stream

has ended. But from September, you're gonna be able to do that from the start of

the live stream, you'll be able to watch the live stream in Live Lounge and

watch it with actual people, for your community, your friends, maybe even make

some new friends. And like I say, gonna do that right from the start, which I'm

really excited about, because it is going to help us build community. We have a

phenomenal community here at Crowd. And building on that, I think is going to

just be exciting and phenomenal. So that's going to be one change. The second

change, the Wednesday night community groups are changing a little bit. So

instead of having scattered and disparate groups, we're going to gather together

as one big community and then break into smaller groups. And each small group

will be your regular sort of community group where people get to know your name,

when they notice if you're not there, and you get to build your friendships.

Alpha will run alongside Community from September, it's going to move to a

Wednesday night, same time, 7:30. Um, and Alpha is great if you're new to the

Christian faith or if you're just exploring the Christian faith. The next Alpha

course starts on the 9th of September, and you can register for that on the

website at www.crowd.church. We have lots of people coming to Alpha. They are

phenomenal things. Um, so yeah, go check out the website for more information

about that at crowd.church. The third change is more in-person meetups. Yay, go

in-person meetups! Now, we baptised some folks in Dorset last month, which was

really phenomenal. We thought, actually, we need to do more of these in-person

meetups. So that's what we're going to do. We are planning gatherings throughout

the year, from regional meetups to bigger events. Again, more information will

be coming, more information on the website. One thing to tell you about,

CrowdFest '27 will be held— with CrowdFest is going to be a big get-together

where we all get together, and we're going to do that at the Wildfires Festival

at the end of July in 2027. You can find out more information about Wildfires

Festival and buy your tickets at wildfiresfestival.com, um, or just follow the

links from the website because there's going to be more information on the

website about CrowdFest '27, crowd.church. So yeah, if that's not it, there's

more stuff coming. Yes, there are, so— but I don't want to bombard you. We're

going to go through that in more detail in September. Yes, we are. So in the

meantime, like I said, everything you want to know about Crowd from past talks

to all the stuff we've talked about today is on the website, www.crowd.church.

Make sure you subscribe to the channel, uh, whilst you're here, because like I

said, this is a 5-parter all the way through the Book of Psalms, and it's built

to be taken as a whole. Each one's going to build onto the next one, so don't

miss any of them. But that's it from me. Thank you so much for joining us. Have

a phenomenal week wherever you are in the world. I will see you next time. Bye

for now.