Psalm 33: Music, Justice, and God

Just bow your heads in prayer for a moment, please, while we remain standing.

Father, we give you thanks and praise that your word has treasures for us to see and to hear.

We give you thanks and praise that, Father, that as we read your word time and time and time again,

that you continue to help us to notice new treasures in your word.

We ask, Father, that you would do a wonderful and gentle but powerful work in our hearts this morning,

that your Holy Spirit would bring the treasures of your word into our heart,

that our hearts might treasure them, and that we might live upright, free lives

to your honor and your glory and the furtherance of your kingdom.

And we ask this in the precious name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Amen. Please be seated.

Amen.

So, I sometimes get to mentor people on how they speak and how they do sermons.

And one of the things I tell people when I'm trying to help them learn how to give a sermon or a talk

is I tell them that the sermon or talk always has to have a good introduction.

It should have some type of an introduction that gets people's attention

and sort of makes them curious about what's going to happen next.

So, I'm here to tell you that I don't have such an introduction today.

I also tell the young people, the young men or women that I'm helping,

that you can get away with saying you have no introduction once or twice a year,

but if you do it every week, then people will think that's a bit lame and you should work harder.

I tried.

I just couldn't come up with a good introduction for the sermon this week.

Maybe after the sermon's over, when you have coffee, you can say,

George, this would have been a perfect illustration to get people into the sermon.

So, there you go.

It's Psalm 33.

If you have Bibles, it would be great if you could look in the Bibles yourselves.

And for those of you who don't have Bibles with you, the text will be up on the screen.

And here's how the Psalm begins.

I'm going to sort of look at it in a group of chunks.

And here's how the Psalm begins.

And by the way, the Psalm begins by not really seeming like it says very much,

but there's actually something in this which really messes with your head

and sort of just blows up.

Like, it's actually quite an astounding statement.

But let's read it first, and I'll go back, and I don't know if you'll, maybe you'll notice it.

Maybe you won't.

We'll see.

Here's how it goes.

Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous.

This praise befits the upright.

Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre.

Make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.

Sing to him a new song.

Play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts.

In other words, with exuberance.

And that's what it says.

Now, here's the thing which is actually quite astounding about this Psalm.

Over the last couple of years, I've become aware of the fact

that some of you know that I'm very interested in apologetics.

And over the last couple of years, I've become aware of the fact

that there's actually quite a powerful and persuasive argument

for the existence and the truth of the Christian God from music.

That's not something I had thought of before a couple of years ago,

but I've now read a couple of articles or parts of books

which make, I think, a quite convincing claim

that only in Christianity is there an explanation of music.

Now, here's the question, here's the issue.

There used to be a fellow who'd come to the 8 o'clock service,

and the reason he came to the 8 o'clock service

was because there was no music at the 8 o'clock service.

He really liked music.

He just hated music in church.

He thought all church music was just terrible

and was only a distraction.

And he came to realize one day

that it's not a spiritual gift to be grumpy,

so it would be just better if he only came to the 8 o'clock service

and never had to hear any music.

But most of us have had different types of experiences with music.

Experiences with music, something like this.

We've heard a piece of music, we've been at a concert,

and there's something about some pieces of music

that are transcendent,

that almost make you feel like you've left your body,

that there's something about it just so,

like you're touching something bigger than this physical reality,

something bigger than this world,

that there's some meaning here that you're entering into,

there's something just sublime and beautiful and transcendent,

and most of us have had some experiences like that with music.

Not every piece of music we hear,

but with some pieces of music that we hear.

It's just that there's something powerful, beautiful, transcendent,

uplifting, almost as if we've left our body.

Now the question is, how do we explain this experience?

Like, how does this experience make any sense?

Now here's where the apologetic comes in.

It's called an abductive argument.

It's not something that it proves,

it doesn't prove my point,

but it's a pointer,

it's a problem or a puzzle that only one viewpoint can sort of accurately explain it.

If you accept the basic story of Canada,

which is that ultimately everything came into existence

through some type of evolutionary process,

and what that means, it's a naturalistic process.

There's no God, no designer, no creator.

It's just, you know, when the Big Bang happened,

just the very nature of the type of matter that got created

and the way everything got propelled out of that, you know, massive bang,

that sort of just inevitably one thing happens after another

and after another and after another and after another,

and eventually there's life and there's eventually you and me,

but there's no purpose, there's no meaning,

there's no direction.

It's just one thing that happens after another.

It's all completely and utterly a coincidence and an accident

that the things that we see in the world and exist

are just the way they exist.

Now, obviously, most people don't really think about that very much

because if they thought about it very much,

it's actually a very terrifying thought.

It's actually a very terrifying way to understand the world

and understand yourself.

But think about music.

If, in fact, that account is correct,

that it's just one thing that happened after another,

there's no design, no intent, no purpose,

it's just cause and effect.

If that is the case, then our experience of music,

well, music and all is just an accident.

That's all it is.

If maybe at that big bang,

things had been a billionth of a billionth of a billionth

of a billionth of a billionth of something different,

there wouldn't be any music,

just like there wouldn't be any of us.

It's just purely and utterly a coincidence and an accident.

And that means that if you think there's something significant about music,

if when you're hearing certain pieces of music,

there's something in there that transports you,

that gives you a sense of something more,

then what you're experiencing is a delusion.

By the way, you know, one of the best scenes that sort of partially captures that,

one of my all-time favorite movies,

like lots of other people, is The Shawshank Redemption.

And it's not a movie for everybody.

There's some really sort of very brutal types of scenes

sort of about a third of the way into the movie.

But if you've seen that movie,

there's that time in the movie when he takes over

the place where the intercom is.

And he plays opera music.

And it completely and utterly transfixes all of the inmates.

And you see that for a while they're not in prison.

They're transported.

They experience something bigger than beyond themselves.

But once again, our current philosophy

basically says that those things are merely an accident.

They have no meaning.

And if you think they have a meaning,

that's just an illusion.

You fooled yourself.

Only the Christian faith ultimately helps you to understand

that your experience of music...

Well, here, if you could put up the first point, Claire,

that would be very helpful.

Music is not a meaningless accident

whose power is a delusion, a sin, or a trap.

It's beyond that.

But as you know, for many parts of Islam,

music is something to be...

When the Taliban come, music stops.

In a sense, in a Buddhist and Hindu worldview,

in some ways, music is a bit of a trap.

It connects you to this world.

And from a naturalistic perspective, it's a delusion.

And I would say that music is not a meaningless accident

whose power is a delusion, a sin, or a trap.

In fact, if you could put up the next point, Claire,

that would be very helpful.

The triune God inextricably wove music into human beings.

Now, not inexplicably, inextricably.

Very similar sounding words, but they're something quite different.

Inextricably means you can't remove it.

That when God created human beings,

he created us in such a way that music,

the ability to appreciate music and understand music

and want music,

is something just woven into us

that can't be removed from us.

Where do I get that?

Well, look at verse 1 again.

Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous.

Praise befits the upright.

In other words, there's something about praise that fits.

It fits with how God made human beings.

It fits with how the universe is.

And it's not just praise.

It's praise involving music.

Because it continues in verse 2.

Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre.

Or with the six-string guitar.

Or however many strings there are in a piano.

Make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.

Sing to him a new song.

Play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts.

See, what the Bible is saying here

is that God has woven music into human beings.

And he's woven music into human beings

so that there is a way to use music

which connects us to him.

In other words, it's very, very clear.

Unlike what our culture says,

when a person, any person,

it doesn't matter if you're a Muslim, a Buddhist, an atheist,

it doesn't matter if you're a Hindu,

it doesn't matter who you are,

but when you experience music,

and when you're experiencing music in such a way

that it sort of lifts you out of yourself,

it's a bit transcendent,

there's just something you feel

that's beautiful and significant about it,

you're having a window into what the real world is.

God created you so that there would be times

when you experience music

and feel there's meaning and transcendence.

And I actually think only the Christian view explains

and makes that experience understandable.

Now, it's also very interesting

that it's not just music

that God has woven into our nature,

but also, in some ways,

goodness and love and beauty and justice

are somehow or another woven into us as human beings

and woven into the created order.

It used to be, you know,

you can't have people who want to claim,

you don't meet them very often right now

because we're in a,

we're in sort of like a witch-hunting,

absolutist culture right now.

Like we went from a relativist culture

to a witch-hunting, absolutist culture,

like in the blink of an eye.

But when I used to have discussions

with people who claimed they were moral relativists,

they couldn't actually argue for moral relativism,

nor could they argue for any type of thing at all in society

without assuming the reality of moral truths

and truths of justice

and the demands of love.

Like it was actually impossible.

One wag put it that it's like trying to argue with somebody

that, who claims that air doesn't exist,

but they can't actually even say a single word to you

without breathing air.

But they're completely blind to it.

And so the Bible actually shows something quite beautiful.

It's for people outside of the Christian faith,

it's, this gives a bit of an understanding

about why as people grow within the Christian faith,

there's a type of beauty and power to it.

Look at verses 4 to 9.

It goes like this.

For the word of the Lord is upright,

and all his work is done in faithfulness.

He loves righteousness and justice.

The earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

You know, just before I pause, before I go any further,

I mean, what this is saying here is that

that God spoke the world into existence,

and when he spoke the world into existence,

not only did he design human beings

so that music is something inextricable to them,

and from music as well, art,

but that also being right, like the goodness,

and that type of justice or balance and fairness,

and steadfast love was also woven into the created order.

Verse 6,

If you could put up the third point, Claire,

that would be very handy.

What this text is saying very clearly

is the triune God spoke,

and the universe came into being.

There's no necessity.

Everything is, to use fancy philosophical language,

everything is contingent.

God just decided it would be good,

and he spoke it into existence.

Whether that ends up being a deep creation

with a long history as seen in the Big Bang

or some other type of mechanism,

there's lots of different ways

that Christians can easily connect this view

with what science is discovering.

In fact, actually,

one of the things which you should,

those of you who aren't familiar,

you should watch some videos by James Tours,

who's an award-winning chemist and engineer

at the University of Houston,

and one of the things which isn't talked about very much

in academic circles,

is that the great breakthroughs

that have been happening in the fields of biology

and biochemistry in the last several decades

have come about because people on one level

are fundamentally rejecting evolution,

and rather than trying to figure out

how this happened by chance,

they now look at it as something designed

and are trying to figure out how it's designed.

And it's not talked about formally

that they've rejected evolution,

but they're functionally acting

as if evolution doesn't exist,

as if things are designed,

looking for the design,

and then trying to figure out

all the features of it.

So there's no problem with this statement

with science,

but you'll notice,

if you could put up the next point, Claire,

that would be handy.

The created order reflects

the goodness, justice, beauty,

and love of the triune God.

See, that's why love is so important to us.

That's why truth is so important to us.

A couple of years ago,

I was at an apologetics event,

and I was on the stage

because I had done a very small presentation.

That actually was the presentation on,

it was a presentation

when we did an apologetics conference

on intelligent design.

And one of the questions that came to me

from the answer was,

from the audience was,

one of the questions that came from the audience

was that, George,

don't you think it's impossible

to know the truth?

Don't you think just, you know,

because of the way science works

and because of bias and all of these,

it's impossible to know the truth

and speak the truth?

And that was the question,

and my answer was very simple.

Do you want me to give you

a true answer or not?

And everybody laughed.

Because, of course,

this individual wanted me

to give a true answer,

and they've already answered

their question.

They wanted a true answer,

not a false answer.

It was just a,

it was a non-question,

a question that we think

we're being smart and clever with,

but actually doesn't,

it's not smart or clever.

But we all know that human beings

need love.

Then we crave it.

And we know that at the end of the day,

we want to know the truth.

I mean, that's really under attack

in North America.

Morris will tell you,

if you come to the 8 o'clock service,

I give a shorter sermon,

but I also give some fairly politically

incorrect comments

at the 8 o'clock sermon

because I know everybody's there

and it's not on YouTube.

And so I don't have to worry about it

haunting me down the years.

But, you know,

increasingly in our culture,

language is being changed

in such a way

not to help us know the truth,

but to stop us

from knowing the truth.

It's one of the reasons

our culture is increasingly in trouble,

is that language is being changed

to obscure the truth

rather than helping us

to know the truth.

And if we don't know the truth,

we can't solve problems.

We need truth.

We need justice.

We need these things.

And only the Christian,

only the Christian scriptures

explains why these are such deep needs

and why we can't actually

function without them.

Even people who are acting

profoundly unjustly

try to frame what they're doing

within the language of justice.

Putin's invasion of Ukraine,

completely unprovoked,

a completely and utterly terrible act,

he, of course,

will try to give you

a justice reason for it.

And that's very telling.

And it also shows you

this next bit

because, of course,

you know,

the thing that we might want to say,

George,

you know,

that's all a very,

very nice way of talking

about the created world.

But the fact of the matter is,

George,

that, you know,

the world has elements like that.

Partly you're true,

but, I mean,

there's the war in Ukraine,

there's terrible injustices

all around the world.

Some of the people here

in this congregation

have been delivered

from profound evil

and profound injustices,

death squads,

terrible abuse.

And so, George,

just to talk about

all of these things

isn't very helpful.

We might even say,

George,

that's the problem I have

with religious people like you.

And I would just say to them,

well, that's fine,

you can have problems

with religious people,

but you can't have problems

with the Bible

because those objections

are anticipated

in the very next movement

of the psalm.

They are.

Look and see at verse 10.

It doesn't just say,

oh, yes,

everything is just,

you know,

bluebells and happiness

and, I don't know,

little unicorns

and all that.

No, no, look at verse 10.

The Lord brings

the councils of the nations.

Another way to understand

the word nations

is people groups.

The Lord brings

the council of the people groups

to nothing.

He frustrates

the plans

of the peoples.

The council

of the Lord

stands forever.

The plans

of his heart

to all generations.

Blessed is the nation.

Blessed is the people group.

Blessed is the person

whose God is the Lord.

The people

whom he has chosen

as his heritage.

So,

what this text

is saying here

is that the reason

that there is evil

in the world,

there are terrible

injustices in the world,

that in fact,

there are people

and people groups

who desire things

and plan things

and organize things

and seek things

and pursue things,

and the things

that they seek

and the things

that they pursue

are very contrary

to how the purpose

is that God

is woven into human beings

and he's woven

into the created order.

He's made us

to know truth

and we tell lies.

He's made us

to desire truth

and we desire lies.

He's made us

to be faithful

to each other

and we betray each other.

He's made sexuality

to work

in a particular way

and we've rejected

those ways

that he's made sexuality

to work.

and he's made us

to love beauty

and we love ugliness.

He's made us

to encourage

and we tear down.

He's made us

for these types of things

and we do

these types of things

and sometimes

we know why

we're doing them

and sometimes

we don't know

why we're doing them

but that's what's going on

in the earth

and that's what's going on

in people's hearts

and one of the things

that the psalm is saying,

yes, I know

these things are going on

but you also need to know

that you can never

erase my purposes.

Try as you might.

You can't erase them.

My purposes are unfailing.

They're intergenerational.

They will last

until all things

come to the end

that I determine

is the end.

Not Apple.

Not the Supreme Court.

Not the Liberal Party

or the Conservative Party

or any party.

It is my end

which will be the end

that ultimately comes.

If you could put up

the next point

that would be very helpful.

You see,

the human problem

is not

that you have desires

and pursue purposes.

That's not the problem.

I mean,

here is where

Christianity

parts paths

very profoundly

with Buddhism

at a very,

very deep level.

It says that

there's so much

noble and beautiful

about Buddhism

but at a very deep level.

They're trying

to do something

which will erase you

as a human being

and take you

in a desire

and a direction

that God does not

want for you.

You see,

the problem isn't

that you have desires

and you pursue purposes.

The problem is

that you cannot

have desires

or purposes

without them

being tainted

by a rejection

of God

and an exalting

of yourself.

That's the problem.

That's my problem.

That's my problem.

You know,

when I'm preparing

a sermon

and that's something

that God wants me to do

and do I

take a turn of phrase

to try to make it

look like I'm wise?

Do I even tell you

that

as a way of making it

look that I'm wise

that I know

that I'm being foolish?

And do I say

that next thing?

You know,

you can have

this endless loop

and all you can say

to that is

shut up, Satan.

Just keep going.

It can taint,

there's a tainting

of even God's

good purposes

towards my exaltation.

You know,

they say that

one of the things

if God,

when God eventually

is,

that's a terrible

way to put it,

some of us

have been praying

that God will give us

a building of our own

that we can use

365 days a year,

24-7.

And one of the things

that people who help

you raise money say

is that when you make,

let's say you get

a building

or you get some land

but you have to

remodel the building

or completely change

the building

or you have to

build something

on the land,

one of the things

that people always

wonder first,

whether they acknowledge

it or not,

is where will I

be able to sit?

Like,

how does this fit me?

And of course,

nobody wants to say

I'm opposed to the plan

because there's not

a place for me.

Nobody's going to say that.

We can come up

with other reasons

about cost

or this or that,

but that's just

a very powerful

human drive.

You see,

the Bible

has a profound

insight

into the human heart,

a profound insight

into the human heart

that doesn't leave us

in despair

but gives us hope.

Look at this next

long section

which,

well,

just look,

verses 13 to 19.

The Lord looks down

from heaven.

He sees all the children

of man

from where he sits

enthroned.

He looks out

on all the inhabitants

of the earth.

He who fashions

the hearts of them all

and observes

all their deeds.

The king

is not saved

by his great army.

A warrior

is not delivered

by his great strength.

The war horse

is a false hope

for salvation

and by its great might

it cannot rescue.

Just sort of pause there.

We'll just stop

at verse 17.

Now,

you know,

here's something

which,

just listen to this text.

It's actually,

if you ask my wife

at coffee time,

she'll tell you

that in many ways

I am still

a mystery to her.

We're going to be married

42 years in October.

She would say

that in many ways,

George,

she'd say,

he's a mystery to me.

And maybe not

with the same amount

of forthrightness.

I mean,

in some ways,

Louise is a bit

of a mystery to me.

And you know,

if I'm honest,

I'm a bit of a mystery

to me.

You know,

when sometimes

you ask yourself

or think,

why did you do that?

I mean,

there doesn't really

seem to be a reason

why sometimes

you do what you do.

Where the reason

you realize

is really like

a stupid reason

that you think,

why on earth

could I have been

so stupid

to do that?

But you know,

if you could put up

the next point,

that would be

very helpful.

You are a mystery

to yourself,

but you are not

a mystery

to the triune God.

He sees your heart

and your deeds.

You are a mystery

to yourself,

but you are not

a mystery

to the triune God.

He sees your heart

and your deeds.

Right?

That's what was

in verses 13 to 15.

The Lord looks down

from heaven.

He sees the children

of man.

Where he's enthroned,

he looks out

on all the inhabitants

of the earth.

He sees Steve

and Louise

and me

and Andrew

and Lisa

and Rachel

and Diane

and Morris.

He sees each one

of us.

And he who fashions

the hearts of them all

and observes

all their deeds.

He's the one

who created us

to have a center,

a heart.

And he sees our hearts

and he observes

our deeds.

It's why you and I

are not mysteries

to him.

Which is why

the Bible

can be so profound.

Because it's ultimately

he spoke the Bible

into existence.

I mean,

obviously there was

a human process

to it.

And notice

how he,

this psalm

written,

who knows,

maybe 2,500 years ago,

maybe 3,000 years ago,

it nails

the anthem

of the average

Canadian heart.

There's a song

that we sing

to ourselves.

And there's a song

that television

and media

sings to us.

And it's encapsulated

in verses 18 to 17.

16 to 17.

We don't recognize

it at first.

The king is not saved

by his great army.

A warrior is not delivered

by his great strength.

The war horse

is a false hope

for salvation.

By its great might

it cannot rescue.

But if you could put

up the point, Claire,

doesn't this sound familiar?

The anthem

of the Canadian heart?

I need to be king.

I need a more

powerful entourage.

I need to be

a powerful warrior.

I need powerful

techniques and tools.

You know,

the problem I have

in my night,

right,

you know,

if the things

that are going on

in my family

or in my workplace

are all right now,

if I could only be

like the king,

if I could only

have more power,

and the fact

the matter,

not only do I

need more power,

but I need more people

to get around me

and to gather

to be like my entourage

to help with this project.

I mean,

you know,

one of the problems

with people nowadays

when we talk about romance

and part of the problem

with saying

that we have a soul friend,

and there's real truth

in that,

but there's also

a trap in it

because what we're

really looking at

is somebody

who's going to be

part of our entourage

who's just supporting,

like,

we say we want

like somebody

who's like a,

like we have

a soul connection,

but really what we want

is somebody

who's just going to

help me be me,

and you can see it

just in the whole way,

you know,

anyway,

you know,

but I need to have

more people around me

who are powerful,

I need to,

and I need to be

a more powerful warrior,

I need to be able

to handle these things,

I need to be able

to handle the boss,

I need to be able

to handle my neighbors,

I just need to be

more powerful,

I need to have,

sort of be like the king,

I need to have people

around me who are

going to help me

be powerful,

who are powerful,

and I need to be

more powerful,

and dang it all,

I need more powerful

techniques and tools,

like I need the newest iPhone,

I need the newest laptop,

I need the newest sound system,

I need these things,

and what are we told

all of the time,

not only do you need

these things,

you deserve these things,

you deserve that F-150 truck,

you deserve that Audi,

you deserve that technology,

you deserve this holiday,

and that's the message

of our culture,

it's the anthem

of the Canadian heart,

that's what God sees,

he sees your heart,

he sees the anthem

that you sing to yourself,

and that you like it

when others sing this anthem,

and we just sort of

automatically assume

that it's those,

this anthem reflects

how God understands

and sees the world,

when we have any time

to think of God

as maybe having

some type of place

in our life,

but it's a complete

and utter shock

that God completely

ignores these people,

look at what it says,

in fact,

you could put up point eight,

point eight is just

a quoting

of verses 18 to 19,

it's my final point,

but it's just quoting

18 and 19,

behold,

the eye of the Lord

is on those who fear him,

on those who hope

in his steadfast love,

that he may deliver

their soul from death

and keep them alive

in famine,

what is famine?

Famine is when you don't

have the entourage,

you don't have

the powerful warrior,

you don't have

the powerful tools,

and you're not king,

and it's a famine,

and his eyes are on you,

his eyes are on you,

and me,

when we call out to him

that he would deliver us.

Just to start

to wrap things up,

you know,

you look at that verse 19,

that he may,

18 and 19,

behold,

the eye of the Lord

is on those who fear him

and those who hope

in his steadfast love,

that he may deliver

their soul from death

and keep them alive

in famine,

it's this picture

of people who've come

to realize that they,

it's like the anthem

of the Canadian heart

is playing all of the time

and all of the time

and all of the time

and all of the time,

and in the midst

of all of it,

sort of in between it,

you realize that

you need mercy

from God,

and it has this,

you know,

beautiful promise

of his delivery

from death.

If you have Bibles

and you turn

to 2 Timothy chapter 1,

2 Timothy 1:8–14

verses 8 to 14,

I think it's,

I think it'll be up

on the screen

for those of you

who don't have Bibles.

Listen to this,

these words of Paul

written towards

the end of his life.

Therefore,

do not be ashamed

of the testimony

about our Lord,

nor of me,

his prisoner,

but share in suffering

for the gospel

by the power of God.

Here's the thing,

who saved us

and called us

to a holy calling,

not because of our works,

but because of his own

purpose and grace,

which he gave us

in Christ Jesus

before the ages began,

and which now

has been manifested

through the appearing

of our Savior Christ Jesus,

who abolished death

and brought life

and immortality

to light

through the gospel,

for which I was

appointed a teacher,

which is why

I suffer as I do,

but I am not ashamed,

for I know

whom I have believed,

and I am convinced

that he is able

to guard until that day

what has been

entrusted to me.

Follow the pattern

of the sound words

that you have heard

from me

in the faith and love

that are in Christ Jesus

by the Holy Spirit

who dwells within us.

Guard the good deposit

entrusted to you.

Back in the psalm,

they hope that God

will deliver them

from death,

and they're looking forward

to that great deliverance

of death

that will come in Christ.

So how should we live?

Turn back to Psalm 33.

The first thing is,

if we spend our week

and our time

singing the anthem

of the Canadian heart,

then we need to,

we either need to come

into that relationship

with God

where we call out to him

to save us

and deliver us,

but once we've done that,

we need to come

and recommit.

We need to hear God's word

to remind us

of what's true.

We need to gather

around the Lord's table

to remember

what Jesus did

for us on the cross,

and in a sense,

every Sunday

is a time

for us to gather

and say,

some of us will say,

I've been at best

an ordinary Christian

this week,

and some of us

might come and say,

I've been a terrible,

crappy, horrible Christian

this week,

and I really need

to come

to recommit,

not to be saved

again

and again

and again,

but to recommit,

to affirm the creed,

to hear God's word,

to remember who Jesus is

and what he did

for me on the cross.

I need that.

Listen to verses 20 and 21.

Our soul waits for the Lord.

He is our help

and our shield.

Our heart is glad in him

because we trust

in his holy name.

We need to recommit.

And the second thing

we need to do

is pray.

The psalm ends

with a one-sentence prayer.

The psalmist turns to God

and says,

let your steadfast love

be upon us

even as we hope in you.

I mean,

we need to gather

to recommit

and we need to learn

how to pray.

He's made us

to talk to him

and we need to gather

and say,

Father,

Lord,

let your steadfast love

be upon us,

be upon me

even as I hope in you.

Help me to hope in you.

And then the final thing

is actually

if you put up

the first three verses,

we need to gather

and sing.

We need to sing

God's praises.

We need to come together

and shout for joy

in the Lord,

O you righteous.

Praise befits the upright.

Give thanks to the Lord

with the lyre.

Make melody to him

with the harp

of ten strings.

Sing to him

a new song.

Play skillfully

on the strings

with loud shouts.

We need that.

God's made us

to sing his praises.

Just in closing,

as I finished working

through the outline

of my sermon last night,

we had some people over,

some of my grandkids.

I had some sound-cancelling

headphones on

and I'd finished working

and I,

while I was working

on this sermon,

I listened to Arvo Part.

I don't know how many

of you are familiar with him.

He's an Estonian

Christian composer.

He might have just died recently,

if not,

he's very old.

And his music is just

transcendently beautiful.

And as I,

as I,

as I finished the preparation,

I just,

I mean,

how could I not?

I just was convicted

that I just really needed

to hear God's praises

being sung.

And so,

one of my favorite,

over the last couple of years,

I love Austin Stone Worship's

live version

of Great is Thy Faithfulness.

And I,

I just,

I just had to put it on.

And my grandkids

probably thought I was weird

because my eyes were all moist.

Because I just loved

hearing them sing

Great is Thy Faithfulness,

their live version

at the Gospel Coalition

Women's Conference

in 2018.

And that's how I finished

preparing for the sermon.

And if I could have

waved a magic wand,

we'd all stand up

and watch it right now

on the screen

and sing along.

But we won't.

We're just going to stand

and close with prayer

and then we're going to go

into intercession.

And we're going to sing

some more later

and we're going to recommit

around the Lord's table.

Let's stand in closing

in prayer.

You might not like the version,

but if you're looking

for a really,

to my mind,

powerful version

of Great is Thy Faithfulness,

check out Austin Stone

Worship's live version

of that song.

Let's pray.

Father,

we give you thanks

and praise

that you know our hearts,

you know our deeds

and still you love us.

We give you thanks

and praise

that you know our hearts

and deeds

and you sent your Son

to die for us,

that we might hope in you

and in hope in you

that we might have

eternal life,

an eternal life

that begins on this side

of the grave

and will continue

through the valley

of the shadow of death

into the new heaven

and the new earth.

We thank and praise you,

Father,

that your word helps us

to understand

why love and justice

and righteousness

is so important to us.

We thank you

that your word helps us

to understand

why music can have such power

and we ask, Lord,

that you help us

to sing lustily unto you,

that you help us

to recommit every week

when we gather

with your people

and that we might learn

to pray as you have prayed.

Father,

we ask that your steadfast love

would fall upon us

and rest upon us

and move deep within us

as we hope more

and more in you.

And we ask these things

in the name of Jesus,

your Son and our Savior.

Amen.