Unrestrained

And turn with me to Psalm forty. Psalm forty is

where we are this morning, Psalm forty. I'm gonna read

our sermon text for us. But some of you might wonder, like, Okay,

that's not like normal, is it. We just sang one

song and we're straight into the word. Yeah, I know,

we're gonna do it on the other end. Okay, don't worry.

You're gonna get your chance to worship your face off. Okay,

but we're gonna We're gonna start with a word and

then we're gonna move in to worship through SOSNG. So

if you're with me, read along as I read aloud

Psalm forty to the choir master, a Psalm of David.

I am declined patiently for the Lord. Sorry, I waited

patiently for the Lord. He inclined to me and heard

my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction,

out of the miriy bog, and set my feet upon

a rock, making.

My steps secure.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song

of praise to our God. Many will see and fear

and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the

man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not

turn to the proud, to those who go astray after

a lie. You have multiplied, O Lord, my God, your

wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us. None can compare

with you. I will proclaim and tell of them. Yet

they are more than can be told. In sacrifice and offering,

you have not delighted, But you have given me an

open ear, burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.

Then I said, behold, I have come in the scroll

of the book. It is written of me. I delight

to do your will, Oh, my God, your laws. Within

my heart, I have told the glad news of deliverance,

and the great congregation. Behold, I have not restrained my lips.

As you know, O Lord, I have not hidden your

deliverance within my heart. I have spoken of your faithfulness

and your salvation. I have not concealed your steadfast love

and your faithfulness from the great congregation. As for you,

Oh Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me.

Your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me.

For evils have encompassed me beyond number. My iniquities have

overtaken me, and I cannot see they are more than

the hairs of my head.

My heart fails me. Be pleased, O, Lord, to deliver me.

Oh Lord, make haste to help me.

Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who

seek to snatch away my life. Let those be turned

back and brought to honor who delighted my hurt. Let

those be appalled because of their shame, who say to me, aha, aha,

but many sorry. But may all who seek you rejoice

and be glad in you. May those who love your

salvation say continually, great as the Lord. As for me,

I am poor and needy, But the Lord takes thought

from me. You are my help and my deliverer. Do

not delay. Oh my God, this is the word of

the Lord. So we turn ten. I appreciate that I

myself am a little, you know, surprised by it all.

There's cookies, you see the cookies, extraordinarily beautiful, decorated cookies

supposed to eat those.

There are t shirts.

There are hats, a snap back and a trucker hat.

There's a video that they haven't let me watch yet.

I have no idea what's in this video. There's a

video after this sermon, and I just gotta say, I

actually have a hard time celebrating. Everybody knows this. This

is not a surprise, There is no confession. My usual

response to things things in life is curb your enthusiasm.

Can we not make a big deal out of this?

And I know I'm not alone. I know many of

us tend to favor.

Restraint, especially those of us with deep Scandinavian roots. But

when it comes to celebrating and testifying to what God

has done? Should we just play it cool? When it

comes to celebrating what God has done?

Is restraint right or is it wrongheaded?

I think Psalm forty will give us some answers if

we ask. So let's look at this topic of restraint

in our testimony. We'll do that by asking four questions,

four questions about being restrained in our testimony and celebration

of what God has done. And those four questions are

basically about others, about God, about scripture, and about you.

Four questions others, God, Scripture, You?

Is it right for us to be.

Restrained in our testimony? Let's start with the question about others?

Are others encouraged.

By this kind of restraint that I favor? This? Curb

your enthusiasm.

Let's not make a big deal out of this when

it comes to celebrating the things that God has done.

Are others encouraged by that?

We can look at verses one through three, especially the

end of three. David says, I waited patiently for the Lord.

He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew

me up from the pit of destruction, out of the

mirie bog, set my feet upon a rock, making my

steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God. Many will see

and fear and put their trust in the Lord. Many

will see in fear and put their trust in the Lord.

You know, not only do we have that line in there,

many will see, many will put their trust in the Lord.

But you just have to take into consideration the historical

context of this psalm. I mean, this is a song

that David has composed, but then it has been picked

up and inscripturated for the next generation to read his

testimony and be encouraged by his unrestrained testimony, to demonstrate

to the people who did not know, who have not seen.

And put their trust in the Lord. In fact, it.

Serves that same purpose right here, right now, in twenty

twenty four in San Antonio. Maybe not only for David,

but for us. Maybe he has put a song.

In our mouth for others. I think of Joshua chapter four.

In Joshua chapter four, the.

People of Israel are taken by the Lord through wondrous

means across the Jordan River into the land, and the Lord.

Tells Joshua, have the people.

Gather stones and set them up as a memorial, so

that those who did not see, those who did not know,

would look at those stones and say, what is this

all about? And those stones would be a reminder to

testify of what God has done. So I started my

own rocks. This is a basket of rocks from the

beginning of this church plant. So now for ten years

I've been collecting rocks as God has done wondrous things

and writing down the things that he Oh, my gosh,

the things that He has done. And I've collected these

rocks and kept them in a basket.

And the other day in small group.

So right now small group for Karen and I is

Seamus and Daniel and Drake and Tony and Ali Alejandro,

because they are planting churches next year, and so the

six of us get in our living room and we

pray about and look at God's word over and.

Just encourage one another and what it's like to plant

a church.

And so it wasn't long ago that I just went

in my and got my basket of rocks and brought

it out to the living room and I said, Okay,

let me tell you some stories. How does that sound

like for small group? Let me tell you this story

of the wondrous works that God has done in the

midst of church planting. Don't have the time to tell you,

but ask me after class. Oh that was incredible. This

was incredible, incredible to see God answer that prayer.

While I was pregking it. Okay, So anyway, getting a little.

Lost the point. The point is, maybe He has put

a song in our mouths.

For others.

Maybe he has put a song in your mouth about

growing victory over a besetting sin. And I'll tell you

there's a dude in this congregation right now who needs.

To hear that song and not mumbled.

Maybe he has put a song in your mouth about

a marriage that was dominated by bitterness and sourness, and

God has taken that and shifted it towards a great

deal of mercy driven sweetness, and He's put that song

in your mouth. And I'm just telling you there's a

couple in this congregation that needs.

To hear it. Are others.

Encouraged by us just mumbling these songs, barely squeaking them out,

humming them? Maybe, as God has done these wondrous things

for you, your call is to be like a worship

leader with these songs, standing tall, microphone close, so to speak,

that many would put their trust.

In the Lord.

Are others encouraged by our restraint when it comes to

testifying about the goodness of God? Maybe when it comes

to celebrating God's goodness, restraint, Maybe it's just wrong headed.

Here's the second question, not only about others, but about God.

Is restraint.

When it comes to testifying about him and celebrating what

He's done? Does it actually represent him well? Does it

represent him well? If you look at verses four and five,

especially the end of five, we see this blessed is

the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does

not turn to the proud to those who go astray

after a lie. You have multiplied, O Lord, my God,

your wondrous deeds and your thoughts towards us. None can

compare with you. I will proclaim and tell of them,

Yet they are more than can be told.

I think.

I think a better actual representation of the goodness of

God would come from more testimony and celebration, not less

God has done more than I can tell. As I

looked through this rock pile, my greatest embarrassment is the

rocks that I should have already written on and put

in here. It really like this is. I was actually

looking for them. But where did I Didn't I write

that one down to?

And what about the other one? He's done more than

I can tell.

And if God has done more then I can tell,

then why do I take what I can hell and

restrain even that? Am I representing God very well by

this restraint? I think when it comes to testifying to

God's goodness, restraint has to be wrongheaded. In fact, David

makes a point of comparing the unrestrained nature of his

testimony with the unrestrained nature of God's mercy. You see

it in verses nine and eleven. Right, he says in

verse line in verse nine, I've told the glad news

of deliverance in the great congregation. Behold, I have not

restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. And then

in verse eleven, he says, as for you, O Lord,

you will not restrain your mercy from me. In other words,

it's fitting that these should mirror and match each other.

The unrestrained nature of God's mercy towards us. It is

fitting that it should be matched and mirrored with the

unrestrained testimony of his faithfulness, his steadfast love, his goodness.

Which is saying a lot when you consider how unrestrained

God's mercy is to you and Jesus Christ.

In Christ, his.

Mercy has not even been restrained by your sin. Like David,

you can say, my iniquities have overtaken me. They are

more than the hairs of my head. And yet mourning,

by mourning, doesn't Christ open his arms unrestrained to you,

as a repentant sinner. I mean, it seems like he should,

more than anyone, restrain himself in giving you an open ear.

He knows you it doesn't it amaze you.

That the one who suffered under the weight of sin

continues to be such a friend of sinners. This is

the Christ, we proclaim, the Christ who died for sinners

and lives to welcome them by grace into real fellowship

with God, and he sticks close to forgive and to

restore as we turn to him day by day for help, healing,

for the messes that we cause ourselves by so often

turning from Him. Of all the wondrous deeds he has

done for us, of the list that is more than

can be told, isn't it this the blood bought, unrestrained,

daily gracious dealing with you, that is at the head

of it all?

Then how.

Can it be that we would restrain our testimony of him?

What a mismatch, What.

A misrepresentation of our God and our Savior, who died

and rose and saves, and who even at this moment

lifts up your head to look at you in the

face with unrestrained mercy. Is this restraint that I show

in celebrating the mercy of God representing him well?

I'm sure.

That when it comes to testifying of God's mercy, restraint

has to be wrongheaded.

There's a third question.

Not only am I convinced that my restraint doesn't help

or encourage others and doesn't actually represent God very well?

The third question is this, and it has to do

with scripture.

Is this restraint when it comes to testifying and celebrating

who God is and what He's done. Is it the

example we have received in scripture? Is it the example

we've received in scripture? I mean, we can look far

and wide in the Old Testament. We've got so many examples,

including Joshua chapter four, as stones of testimony and remembrance

are stacked up. We can look in the Gospels where

Jesus says, well, if the people restrain themselves, the.

Rocks will cry out just ironic. Christ is king.

All the way to the end in Revelation, and we

see this picture around God's throne of people from every

tribe and tongue and nation surrounding the throne of God

giving praise unrestrained. I can actually think of no passage

of scripture that provide it's an opposing example where anything

remotely resembling my kind of curb your enthusiasm bent is

held out as a positive example at all. In fact,

the one example that I can think of of that

is actually King David's wife.

Here's a story.

King David is accompanying the transporting of the.

Ark of God.

The Ark of God is on the move, and he's

accompanying it, and he is celebrating the goodness of God.

He's stripped down to his undershirt and he's dancing before

the Lord in front of everybody. And his wife sees

him through her window. She's watching him, and when he

gets home, she's like, you're king, dude, have a little.

Dignity.

Restrain yourself, curb your enthusiasm.

And David says, what like your dad?

Because her dad was King Saul, who was rejected by

the Lord. He always had to put on a front

of dignity and strength. He always had to look like

he had it together and was not too overwhelmed by

what God was doing. And David said, oh, I'm going

to get a lot less dignified before the Lord. The

only example that we have in the Bible of advocating

for restraint when it comes to celebrating the things of

God is David's wife, and that example gets a big

thumbs down. This Solom in particular, gives us this example

in an unequivocal way, says is verse nine to ten,

I have told the glad news of deliverance in the

great congregation. Behold, I have not restrained my lips.

As you know.

Oh Lord, I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart.

I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation. I

have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from

the great congregation. So, when it comes to the examples

of scripture, is restraint in celebrating God what we see? No?

I think all the biblical examples show us that when

it comes to testifying about God, restraint is completely wrongheaded.

How can we not loudly testify and celebrate when every

example an instruction of scriptures proclaim tell, don't hide, speak up,

don't conceal, say continually, great as the Lord. I've got

one last question on this matter. This last fourth question

is how is restraint when it comes to testifying of

what God has done? How is restraint preparing you? How

is it preparing you to expectantly cry out for His deliverance?

Again?

I mean you might have noticed this psalm isn't exclusively

one about celebration and testimony. Before he's done, David is

lifting up to God another cry for help. You see

this in verses thirteen, all the way through seventeen. Be

pleased the Lord to deliver me, Make haste to help me.

I'm poor and needy. You are my help, my deliverer.

Do not delay, Oh my God, see all that there

is it strange that David goes from You have multiplied

your wondrous deeds to I am poor and needy. Do

not delay. It's not strange at all. His own testimony

and celebration of God's works are preparing him to cry

out expectantly again. What David is thinking is he's done

it before.

He can do it again.

My basket of rocks often has been stored in a

certain place. See when I pray, I pace. It's like

a devotional dog run. I just find the longest stretch

in the house, and I just pace back and forth

as I pray for my needs, my family needs, y'all's needs,

this devotional dog run, and I keep my basket of rocks.

I have often kept them at the very end of

one end of that dog run, and I see them

fifty percent of the time while I'm praying, I see them,

and there they are, reminding me he's done it before

he can do it again. Almost every day will.

Find that you not only have more.

To say about the goodness of God that can be told,

but you will also have real needs, real dreams, for

which the right and biblical move is to cry out

expectantly to God. You have family members who don't yet

know Him. You have problems that when you close your

eyes they seem much bigger than you, and when you

open them, they seem even.

Twice as big.

And is the restraint that we favor in celebrating the

goodness of God, preparing us to cry out expectantly for

Him to deliver us from these things and provide what

we need.

Now.

If you want to be prepared to cry out.

Efectant lea to God.

Testimony that has restrained is flat out wrong headed.

Our praise prepares our prayer.

As we continue to remind ourselves He's done it before.

He can do it again.

That should be the shout that we have for ourselves

and for one another, not just individually, but also as

a church, as we plan to plant Providence Bible Church

out west and plant Gracia Everdad in Espanol, that by

God's grace, they would preach the Word and they would

make disciples.

Our praise prepares our prayer.

As we testify and celebrate He's done it before he

can do it again. As we raise up elders and

small group bleeders, and hire staff to shepherd and care

for and equip.

This flock.

We have to prepare our prayers through our praise, as

we say he's done it, before he can do it again.

Our celebration.

Of what he has done should not be an exercise

in restraint, in order to see others put their trust

in the Lord, in order to rightly represent who he

is and what he does, in order to obediently follow

every example we see from.

Scripture, in order to prepare us.

To cry out expectantly to him again. Let our celebration

of the wondrous works of God be unrestrained.