Lamenting Sin: Waiting on God

Welcome to all of you who do not yet know me.

My name is Sean.

I'm one of the pastors of Trinity Cambridge Church,

and it's my joy and privilege

to preach God's word to you this morning.

If you would please open up your Bibles to Psalm 25.

And if you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand.

We'd love to give you a copy that you can use

while you're here, and you can take home with you.

Psalm, if you're not familiar with it,

is like right in the middle of the book,

middle of the Bible.

Just open it in the middle.

You'll probably be somewhere close to the Psalms,

and Psalm 25 is toward the beginning of the book.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Father, we humble ourselves before your word once again

because we don't want to shape you according to our will,

but we want to be shaped by you.

We want our reality, our perceptions,

our attitudes, our words and actions

to be shaped by what you say.

So we incline our ears and our hearts to you now.

Focus our attention on Jesus.

The word made flesh.

Enlarge our view of your grace and mercy

that we might give you the praise that you rightly deserve.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

If you are willing and able, please stand for the reading of God's word.

Psalm 25.

Of David.

Of David.

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

O my God, in you I trust.

Let me not be put to shame.

Let not my enemies exalt over me.

Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame.

They shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know your ways, O Lord.

Teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth and teach me.

For you are the God of my salvation.

For you I wait all the day long.

Remember your mercy, O Lord,

and your steadfast love.

For they have been from of old.

Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions.

According to your steadfast love, remember me.

For the sake of your goodness, O Lord.

Good and upright is the Lord.

Therefore, he instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in what is right

and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness.

For those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

For your name's sake, O Lord,

pardon my guilt, for it is great.

Who is the man who fears the Lord?

Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.

His soul shall abide in well-being

and his offspring shall inherit the land.

The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him

and he makes known to them his covenant.

My eyes are ever toward the Lord,

for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

Turn to me and be gracious to me.

For I am lonely and afflicted.

The troubles of my heart are enlarged.

Bring me out of my distresses.

Consider my affliction and my trouble

and forgive all my sins.

Consider how many are my foes

and with what violent hatred they hate me.

O guard my soul and deliver me.

Let me not be put to shame,

for I take refuge in you.

May integrity and uprightness preserve me,

for I wait for you.

Redeem Israel, O God,

out of all his troubles.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

You may be seated.

The superscription of Psalm 25

tells us that this is a psalm of David,

meaning most likely that David composed it.

And here David draws a connection

between the sins that he has committed

and the troubles that he's facing

because of his enemies.

Sometimes the superscriptions of the psalms

give us more specific contextual details.

For example, the superscription of Psalm 51

tells us that David wrote a psalm

when Nathan the prophet confronted him

regarding his adultery with Bathsheba.

Since Psalm 25 doesn't have

that kind of detailed superscription,

we can't be sure,

but there is a season in David's life

that fits naturally with the content of Psalm 25.

In 2 Samuel 11,

David covets his servant,

Uriah's wife, Bathsheba.

And he commits adultery with her

while Uriah is away in battle

fighting for his king, David,

putting his life on the line for him.

David gets Bathsheba pregnant

and then he tries to cover his tracks

by getting Uriah killed.

He sends Uriah to the fiercest part of the battle

and he instructs the army to withdraw from him

so that Uriah is killed in action.

And David thinks that he's covered it up,

but of course, nothing is hidden

from the all-seeing eyes of God.

And prophet Nathan confronts David about his sin

and pronounces God's judgment.

The child of David's adultery

is not going to live past infancy.

And God says to David in 2 Samuel 12, 11 to 12,

Behold, I will raise up evil against you

out of your own house.

And I will take your wives before your eyes

and give them to your neighbor.

And he shall lie with your wives in the sight of the sun.

For you did it secretly,

but I will do this thing before all Israel

and before the sun.

This judgment comes to fruition

in 2 Samuel 15 to 17

when David's son Absalom revolts,

stages a successful coup d'etat,

and he forces David to flee in exile

and his loyal followers.

And he takes over the throne in Jerusalem.

And after Absalom takes over his father's throne

in the king's palace,

you know what he does?

He sleeps with all of his father's concubines

publicly in the sight of all Israel,

fulfilling the punishment that God had decreed

for David's hidden adultery with Bathsheba

and for his murder of her husband, Uriah.

But this has the effect of solidifying Absalom's rebellion.

And guess who is the shrewd counselor

that is counseling Absalom during this time against David?

Ahithophel.

And we know that Ahithophel,

from 2 Samuel 11, 3 and 2 Samuel 23, 34,

he is the grandfather of Bathsheba,

whom David adulterated and stole unlawfully.

And that makes him also the grandfather-in-law of Uriah,

whom David murdered.

It seems that Ahithophel never quite got over

what David did to his granddaughter

and to his grandson-in-law.

So he joins Absalom's revolt

and counsels him against David.

David's adultery and murder

were connected to Absalom's rebellion and adultery

with David's concubines.

Through his sins, David made enemies.

For himself.

And he brought these troubles upon himself.

And David understands this reality.

And that's why in this psalm,

he simultaneously laments the troubles

that he is in from his enemies,

and he laments the sins that he has committed

and asks God for forgiveness.

There is no one-to-one connection or correlation always

in Scripture between your sins

and the troubles and the calamities that come upon you.

But there is a connection that the Bible draws in places.

And here is an example of that.

Psalm 25 is written as an acrostic poem in Hebrew,

meaning that each verse begins with the letter

of the Hebrew alphabet, and it goes down in order.

It's an almost perfect acrostic.

An acrostic is a mnemonic device

intended to help people memorize it.

So this psalm was often committed to memory.

That's an evidence of that.

And the only verse that doesn't fit the acrostic

is the last verse,

which is kind of a postscript, verse 22.

So it's emphasizing that.

In addition to being an acrostic,

there is a prominent structure in the psalm.

It's a chiastic structure,

meaning the first half of the psalm

is mirrored in the second half of the psalm,

in its words and phrases and content.

And so, for example, in verses 1 to 5,

it speaks of trusting God

and being not put to shame before the enemies.

And then at the end, verse 20 to 21,

it speaks of the same thing,

trusting God, not being put to shame before the enemies.

And then verses 6 to 7 speak of God's steadfast love

and ask for forgiveness for sins.

And then verses 16 to 19 speak of God's grace

and ask for forgiveness for sin.

Verses 8 to 10 says that the Lord instructs

those who are humble, sinners who humble themselves.

And then verses 12 to 15 tells that

the Lord instructs the man who fears him.

And so there's a matching element

to every part of the psalm,

except for the middle,

which is the core, the crux of the psalm,

verse 11, and that's being highlighted,

emphasized because it stands alone,

which talks about how God pardons guilt

for his name's sake.

So using this chiasm,

I'm going to preach through those matching sections

together until we climax in that middle,

in the core, in verse 11.

And Psalm 25's overall message for us

is that as pilgrims who have not yet arrived,

we should humbly confess our sins to God

and wait for his redemption.

And it gives us several motivations for that.

First, God vindicates those who wait on him.

Second, God forgives those who confess their sins.

Third, God instructs those who humble themselves.

And fourth, God redeems for his name's sake.

These are the reasons why we should turn to him

and plead for forgiveness for sin.

So the first reason why we should humbly confess our sins to God

and wait for his redemption

is that God vindicates those who wait on him.

Like us, when we wait on God,

you might not be doing anything,

but God is up to something.

And so it's not in vain.

It's not a waste of time.

And seeing in that light,

waiting is actually a very hopeful thing.

Because if you're not waiting,

that means you've given up.

You've despaired.

There is no hope.

So if you're waiting,

that means there's actually hope.

You're waiting for the resolution of something.

Those who despair say,

Lord, the Lord redeems not.

But those who wait and hope

say the Lord redeems not yet.

Waiting is not the same as languishing or wasting away.

In fact, Isaiah 40, 31 says that

those who wait for the Lord

shall renew their strength.

They shall mount up with wings like eagles.

They shall run and not grow weary.

They shall walk and not be faint.

Waiting for the Lord brings renewal of strength.

In the same way,

when the guitar strings are loose,

you can't play any music.

When you strum it,

you'll only hear this cacophonous clattering of metal

against the wooden body of the guitar.

It's only when the strings are taught

that it can bring forth beautiful music.

Likewise for the Christian,

it's only when they live in the midst

of that tension between the already and the not yet.

When they live with hope,

waiting on God,

that they can produce beautiful music in their lives.

In perseverance and endurance.

This is why David says in verse 21,

May integrity and uprightness preserve me,

for I wait for you.

The words integrity and uprightness

refer to David's integrity and uprightness.

We know that because those two exact words

are used by God himself

to describe David in verse Kings 9, 4.

But how can David possibly claim

integrity and uprightness for himself

when he says in verse 11,

Pardon my guilt, for it is great.

How can a person with great guilt

can be said to have integrity and uprightness?

Why does David think that his integrity and uprightness

will preserve him?

He tells us in verse 11,

For I wait for you.

David is not saying that he has been sinless,

but he is saying that his hope and trust

are unreservedly in the Lord.

That's his integrity

and that's his uprightness.

He's waiting on the Lord.

Integrity does not mean

that you are sinless,

but it does mean

that there is no sin in your life

that you have not renounced

or repented of.

David is living in that tension.

Like him,

we are simultaneously sinner and saint.

And in that in-between time,

between God's,

Jesus' first coming

and his second coming,

we lament our sins

and we confess our sins

to God and to one another

and we wait on God,

hoping in him that

there will be a time

when sin will be no more.

When we wait on the Lord

in the midst of our sins,

in the midst of our sufferings

and sorrows,

we're declaring our hope

that the final word

has not yet been spoken.

And that God's good

and sovereign purposes

will prevail.

And as David waits

on the Lord in this way,

he prays for deliverance

from his enemies.

Verses 2 to 3.

Let me not be put to shame.

Let not my enemies exalt over me.

Indeed,

none who wait for you

shall be put to shame.

They shall be ashamed

who are wantonly treacherous.

His enemies are those

who are wantonly treacherous,

willfully doing

whatever treachery they want,

which is contrasted

with the psalmist's

patient waiting.

David's enemies

take matters

into their own hands,

wantonly treacherous,

while David leaves

the matter in God's hands.

He waits.

He hopes.

And for this reason,

David repeatedly asks God

not to let him

be put to shame.

Again,

this is matched

by verses 19 to 20,

where he says,

Consider how many

are my foes,

and with what violent hatred

they hate me.

O guard my soul

and deliver me.

Let me not be put to shame,

for I take refuge in you.

To be put to shame

or to be disgraced,

it refers to being embarrassed

by folly or by guilt.

That's the difference

between guilt and shame.

Guilt is vertical.

It describes the feeling

of having done something wrong

before the law

or before God.

Shame is horizontal.

It's what you feel,

the feeling of being exposed

to others,

embarrassed by others

because of the wrong

that you have done

or the perceived wrong.

David's praying

that God would not

let him be put to shame

before his enemies.

God, I wait on you.

My hope is in you.

If you don't deliver me,

my enemies will gloat over me

and they will say

that my hope was in vain

and that I was a deluded fool.

Don't let that happen.

I am waiting on you.

I'm counting on you.

Vindicate me.

And David expresses

his confidence

that God will indeed

vindicate him.

In verse 3,

Indeed,

none who wait for you

shall be put to shame.

But how can David

be so confident

that he will be vindicated?

Because he knows

God's character.

It brings me to my second point

that God is the one

who forgives those

who confess their sins.

It says in verses 6-7,

Remember your mercy, O Lord,

and your steadfast love,

for they have been from of old.

Remember not the sins

of my youth

or my transgressions.

According to your steadfast love,

remember me

for the sake of your goodness,

O Lord.

There are several amazing

contrasts in these verses.

The sins of my youth

and my transgressions

are contrasted with your mercy

and your steadfast love.

The sins of my youth

is also contrasted with

God,

whose mercy and steadfast love

are from of old.

David and we,

like him,

have been sinning

from our youth,

but the good news

is that God

has been merciful

and steadfast

from of old.

He is the ancient of days.

In fact,

from eternity past,

he has been characterized

by steadfast love

and mercy.

my sins

and my transgressions

are many.

But the good news

is that Lord

is abounding

in steadfast love,

as it says

in Exodus 34, 6.

These verses

are alluding

to that powerful passage.

Verse 6 and 7

are mirrored

by verse 16 to 18.

Turn to me

and be gracious to me,

for I am lonely

and afflicted.

The troubles of my heart

are enlarged

and bring me

out of my distress.

Consider my affliction

and my trouble

and forgive all my sins.

When your troubles

seem enlarged

before your eyes

and they seem to loom

large in the horizon

and seem to dominate

your perspective,

we need to ask

and pray to God

and cry at Him

in this way

to enlarge

our view of His grace,

His mercy,

His steadfast love.

Note the repetition

of the word remember.

Twice,

once in verse 6

and again in verse 7,

David asks God

to remember His

steadfast love

or to remember Him

according to His

steadfast love.

And then sandwiched

between those two occurrences

is another occurrence

of the word remember

but this time it says

remember not

the sins of my youth

or my transgression.

So that structure

emphasizes the contrast.

David wants to be remembered

not according to

his transgressions

but according to

God's steadfast love.

this is because

David knows

as he says

in Psalm 130,

if you,

O Lord,

should mark iniquities,

O Lord,

who

could stand?

No one.

No one

could stand.

Not a single one

in this room.

Not a single one

out in the world.

If God,

who is perfect

in holiness,

chooses to mark

all of our iniquities,

here's another one.

Here's another one.

Who can stand?

Who can be justified?

Who can have any

standing or excuse

before God?

David knows

that if God treats him

as he deserves

to be treated

that he's in trouble.

His only hope

is that God

does not remember

his sins

and that God

does not treat him

as he deserves

but instead

that God treats him

on the basis

of his own mercy,

steadfast love,

and grace.

God is merciful.

It's the word

that describes

God's tender

compassion

toward his people

like the mother's

compassion

for a nursing child.

God's not severe

or harsh

with us.

He is merciful.

God has steadfast love

toward us.

This is his loyal love.

His loving kindness.

His enduring

covenantal love

that he shows

to a people

who have repeatedly

been unfaithful to him

because he is faithful

even when

they are not.

In the Hebrew,

both the word

mercy and steadfast love

in verse 6

are actually plural.

I love that.

It's awkward

in English

so you don't

translate it that way.

But God's mercies,

God's steadfast loves,

as if to counteract

the plurality

of David's sins

and transgressions,

as if to convey

the reality

that where sin

increased,

grace abounded

all the more.

That our sins,

yes,

they are many,

but his mercies

are more.

God's mercies.

A boy who is playing

in a little pond

where a puddle of water

has to be careful

because he can't

jump too high

or he obviously

can't dive into it

or he will get

seriously hurt.

If he rough houses

a little too much,

there might be

no more puddle left.

Water might be

just a muddy mess.

But if you take that boy

and drop him

in the ocean,

he could play

and dive

and jump

all he wants

in the freedom

of that vast ocean.

In the same way,

God's love for us

is boundless

and bottomless

and vast

and those who

confess their sins

and turn to him

can relish

the freedom

of that love.

God is also

gracious,

he says,

which means

that he shows

kindness

or favor

to his people.

Right?

When you find

favor with someone,

that person

delights in you

and is inclined

to be favorable

toward you

and that means

he's not treating you

fairly

or equitably

but like everyone else,

rather than

he's treating you

with a special favor

and special,

exceptional grace.

So all three

of these words,

mercy,

steadfast love

and grace,

they highlight the fact

that God forgives

those who confess

their sins

not because of

who they are

but because of

who he is.

That's our great hope

as Christians.

David is pleading

with God

for forgiveness

on the basis

of his character,

on the basis

of the covenant

that God has made

with him.

God,

I belong to you.

I am yours.

I wait on you.

My hope and trust

are in you.

So forgive me.

Remember not my sins

but remember

your mercy

and steadfast love

and grace.

And as recipients

of God's mercy

and steadfast love,

we do not presume

upon God's grace

and go on sinning

all the more.

We turn away

from our sinful ways

and turn toward

the ways of God.

That brings me

to my third point.

God instructs

those who humble themselves

and he helps us

to walk in his ways.

Note the repetition

of words like

way,

path,

lead.

It says in verses

four and five,

make me know your ways,

O Lord.

Teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth

and teach me

for you are the God

of my salvation.

Verses eight to ten,

again highlight

the same theme.

Good and upright

is the Lord,

therefore he instructs

sinners in the way.

He leads the humble

in what is right

and teaches the humble

his way.

All the paths

of the Lord

are steadfast love

and faithfulness

for those who keep

his covenant

and his testimonies.

Again and again,

way,

path,

lead.

The word lead,

it's a verbal form

of the word.

It's a type of form

that literally means

cause someone to walk.

So to lead

is to cause someone

to walk.

So it's again

playing into that

same imagery,

that metaphor

of a journey.

And verses eight to ten

are mirrored by verses

twelve to fifteen

in the second half,

which tells us

that the Lord

instructs in the way

those who fear him

and plucks their feet

out of the net.

Our enemies

seek to ensnare

our feet

in the net

of their schemes.

Our sins

seek to entangle us

in its nets.

But God's the one

who plucks our feet

out of the net

and keeps us walking

on the right path.

It's on that journey.

So these metaphors,

this extended metaphor

reminds us

that God's people

are pilgrims

on the way.

We have not yet arrived.

There will be a day

when prayer turns to praise.

And there will be a day

when faith turns to sight.

There will be a day

when hope turns

into reality.

But that day

is not yet.

And until that day comes,

we should humbly

confess our sins

to God

and wait for his redemption.

Lamenting

and confessing

our sins,

it helps us

to keep

to that narrow gate

and the hard way

that leads to life

that Jesus talks about

in Matthew 7

rather than

straying to the wide gate

and the easy way

that leads to destruction.

because when you

lament your sins,

when you mourn

your sins

or the sins

of our society,

then you will no longer

delight in those sins.

And that temptation

loses its illusion.

And if you're

confessing your sins

to God

and to others,

you are debasing yourself

and you're humbling yourself

and God promises

he gives grace

to the humble.

Who are the kind

of people

that God

personally instructs

and teaches

and leads,

causes to walk

in the right way?

Verse 9 tells us

the humble.

Verse 12 and 14

tells us

those who fear

the Lord.

Fearing the Lord

doesn't mean

being terrified of God

rather than

it means standing

in awe of God,

his glory,

his greatness

in such a way

that we dare

not disobey him.

To fear the Lord

is to live

before the presence

of God,

under the authority

of God,

and for the glory

of God.

That's what it means

to have fear of the Lord.

And so in a real way,

fear of the Lord

is a synonym

for humility.

And the two terms

are often paired together

in the book of Proverbs.

Because those who fear

the Lord are humble.

Because they are not

wise in their own eyes,

but instead find wisdom

in God's word.

Those who fear

the Lord are humble

because they care

more about what

God says about them

than what men

say about them.

Those who fear

the Lord are humble

because

they do not deny

their sins,

but they've really

confessed.

It's people like that

that learned

from God

and followed him.

A college professor

might look for

the most intelligent

student,

handpick the most

intelligent student

to teach

and to advise

so that he or she

can understand

complex material

and maybe even

progress beyond

where they have gone.

That's their hope.

But that's not

what God looks for

in his people.

God looks for

humble people

who fear him.

in order to grasp

a difficult math

or a physics concept,

you need intelligence.

But in order to grasp

the wisdom of God,

in order to walk

in the ways of God,

you need humility.

humility.

And why does God

place such a premium

on humility?

Why does God

care so much

that we walk

in his paths

without veering

away from it?

Verse 14

tells us,

that friendship

of the Lord

is for those

who fear him

and he makes

known to them

his covenant.

God demands

humility

and God calls

to walk

in his paths

not because

he's arbitrary

or not because

he's a tyrant.

It's because

the only way

that we lowly humans

can relate properly

to God,

most high,

is through humility

and fear of the Lord.

And it's only

when we relate

to him rightly

that we can have

a personal relationship

with him.

The friendship

of the Lord

is for those

who fear him.

The Christian Standard Bible,

which is another translation,

puts it this way,

the secret counsel

of the Lord

is for those

who fear him.

If we humbly

walk with God

in the paths

of God,

God confides

in us.

He reveals

things

that he only

reveals

to his covenant

friends.

God cares

that we walk

in his paths

by obeying

his commands

because it's

only in doing

so that we can

experience

his steadfast

love and faithfulness.

Because what did

it say in verse 10?

All the paths

of the Lord

are steadfast love

and faithfulness

for those

who keep

his covenant

and his testimonies.

It's only

by walking

in God's paths

and keeping

to our covenant

with him

that we can

love him

and have a relationship

with him.

That's what God

desires of us.

This is why

we lament

and turn

from our sinful ways

so we can keep

to his paths

and enjoy

the friendship

of the Lord.

Do you want

more

out of your

relationship

with God?

Do you

want

more

of his

steadfast

love

and faithfulness?

Do you

want to

know him

more deeply

and walk

with him

more intimately?

Here's the

Bible's

answer.

Obey

him.

Stay

along

his paths.

Walk

with him.

Keep

in step

with his

spirit.

Then you

will know

God

more

intimately.

You

will

experience

more

of his

steadfast

love

and

faithfulness.

You

will

have

deeper

friendship

with

the

living

God.

That

leaves

verse 11

which is

the center

of the

chiasm

and the

crux of

the

psalm.

Verse 22

which is

like an

afterward

since it

falls outside

the alphabet

acrostic.

Verse 22

concludes

with this

prayer.

Redeem

Israel

O God

out of

all

his

troubles.

The whole

psalm up to

this point

was personal.

It was

written in

the first

person.

I,

me,

my,

and here

David

transfers

that to

the corporate

reality of

Israel as

God's

people,

as a

nation.

And so

that this

lament

becomes the

prayer of

all God's

people.

And the

God of our

salvation that

he's waiting

for came to

us in

Jesus Christ.

when

prophet Simeon

had been

waiting,

waiting for

the

consolation of

Israel,

finally got

to behold

the child

Jesus at

the temple.

He held

him up

and said

this,

my eyes

have seen

your salvation.

Jesus is

the fulfillment

of Psalm

25 because

he came and

accomplished

the central

prayer of

this Psalm,

verse 11,

for your

namesake,

O Lord,

pardon my

guilt for

it is

great.

I was

praying this

for you

guys this

week and

we were

praying together

for this

this morning.

Do you

know that

your guilt

is great?

Lawbreaking

offenses in

our society

get classified

into three

broad categories

and infraction

is the least

serious,

smallest offense

which can be

punished with

up to five

days in prison

and $5,000

in the file.

It's still

pretty expensive

on.

A misdemeanor

is next,

punishable by

up to one

year in

prison and

or $100,000

in the file.

The worst,

most serious

crime is a

felony which

is punishable

by up to

a lifetime

in prison

or death

and or by

a $250,000

fine.

Sometimes we

can think of

our sins as

a minor

infraction.

Oh, I've

done some

bad things,

little things

here and

there, but

oh man,

so many

people are

so much

worse.

No.

God is

our creator

and he is

our sovereign

ruler, but

all of us

at one point

denied him

to his face

and we

rejected his

rule and we

sought to be

masters of our

own fate.

We sought to

live for

ourselves.

We have all

in our ways,

in our own

simple ways,

tried to be

God rather

than submit

to God.

That's not

a little

sin.

We have

sought to

usurp the

very throne

of God.

That's

treason.

And if

treason

against the

United States

government

is a felony,

how much

more when

it is

committed

against the

God of

the universe

who has

infinite worth

and value

and who

has never

wronged and

has given

us all

that is

good.

Our guilt

is great.

Do you

feel that?

If all of

us really

understood this

then we

would stop

trying to

make up for

it and

pay for our

sins ourselves

because there's

no way that

we could ever

do enough

community service

hours, do

good deeds

to make up

for it.

There's no way

we can ever

pay a big

enough punishment,

big enough

fine to make

up for it.

And great

guilt requires

a great

pardon.

And praise

be to God

that he

provided Jesus

to provide

that great

pardon for

us.

Verse 11

says,

For your

name's sake,

O Lord,

pardon my

guilt,

for it is

great.

Once again,

the basis

for our

pardon for

sin is not

our worthiness,

not our

deservingness,

but the

Lord's

character and

name.

Ezekiel 20,

44 makes

this so

explicit.

You shall

know that I

am the

Lord.

When I

deal with

you for

my name's

sake,

not according

to your

evil ways,

not according

to your

corrupt deeds,

O house of

Israel.

Herein lies

our hope,

brothers and

sisters.

God does

not deal

with us

according to

our sins.

God does

not repay

us according

to our

iniquities.

He could,

but he

doesn't.

It's like

having a

cosigner on

the loan.

As sinners

were morally

and spiritually

bankrupt and

left to our

devices,

we would

default on

our loans

immediately.

But because

God has

singled us

out for

himself as

his people,

because God

has committed

himself to

us in

covenant,

it's like

having a

cosigner on

our loan.

When we

can't pay,

the cosigner is

obligated to

pay because

now his

name and

his credit

are on

the line.

Because God

has bowed

himself to

us in

covenant and

because he

has signed

on that

dotted line,

now it's

for his

name's sake

that he

pardons our

guilt.

That's what

Jesus accomplished

on the cross.

How can a

just God

pardon a

great guilt

with impunity?

If a judge

pardoned great

guilt in

court, we

would be

outraged.

So how

can God

do that?

Because of

Jesus.

Because God

didn't just

excuse and

pardon sin in

a cavalier

manner, in

offhand manner

like nothing

ever happened.

Rather, God

paid a steep

price for our

sin.

He bore the

punishment for

our sin in

Jesus Christ

when he died

on the cross

and when he

was raised on

the third

day.

Jesus made

good our

pardon of

sin and he

was the

ransom, the

price for our

redemption from

slavery and

death.

That's why we

can humbly

confess our

sins to God

assured of our

pardon.

That's why we

can patiently

wait for his

redemption, our

final redemption,

assured that

that is coming

because we

already have the

down payment of

that redemption

in the Holy

Spirit.

our final

redemption is

certain, it's

not a maybe,

it's just not

yet.

Not yet.

Pardon for

sin and a

peace, steady

endurance.

Thine own

dear presence to

cheer and to

guide.

Strength for

today and

bright hope for

tomorrow.

Blessings all

mine with

10,000 beside.

Let's pray.

Yes, Father,

fill us with

that hope this

morning.

Make us wait

on you so

that as we

wait on you,

we are

renewed,

renewed in

our strength.

So we might

soar with wings

like eagles.

Impress upon

us what great

mercies.

we have

received.

In Jesus'

name we

pray.

Amen.

Amen.