Psalms Week 8 • Psalm 92

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Thanks for listening.

Good morning.

Glad that you guys are here.

Hope you all had a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving.

Well, before we go into the message, I want to go ahead and address something.

I've had a lot of questions this morning be asked to me from different people, and they've

asked the question, are you okay?

If you're not from South Carolina, let me explain to you about something that happened yesterday.

My University of South Carolina Gamecocks lost again to that team from the upstate.

So no, I'm not okay.

I'm not okay.

I'm not okay.

I'm not okay at all.

But I'm going to change.

I heard this this morning from someone.

We as Carolina fans are known to have a phrase that we use after a loss.

I just heard somebody say it.

If you know it, say it with me.

Wait till next year, right?

Well, I'm going to alter that a little bit.

Wait till next decade, all right?

2031 is on, right?

We got it.

All right.

It's good to be here with you guys this morning.

I do hope you all had a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving.

Ours was a great time.

Spilled, spilled too.

We did that, but filled with family and lots of food and good times.

And so we're grateful that we could all be here this morning.

If you've got your Bibles, go ahead and open up to Psalm 92.

That's where we're going to be this morning.

As you turn there, if you weren't able to be with us this past Sunday night,

we had a wonderful night for our missions and prayer.

It was fantastic as we had our missionaries that were here with us

from somewhere far away that we can't talk about publicly,

at least while we're live streaming,

but had a wonderful time just kind of hear the story of what God's doing all over the world.

And for the people who were there, we had a great crowd show up.

A lot of people asked that night,

will we have more opportunities, more things like this?

And to answer that, absolutely we will.

It was just wonderful seeing all that God was doing

as we talked more and more about unreached people groups

and what it takes and what God's doing.

You know, I think sometimes our focus in our lives

can just be what we can see, what we hear, what we know about, right?

Because we can't get outside of that.

We can't know what we don't know.

We can't see what we can't see.

But when we have these moments, when we have these opportunities,

God just opens up for so much more of what he's doing.

And so we're looking forward for more opportunities with that.

Something that came out of this night or leading up to this night

as we talked about how can we take this season

and continue to keep missions and prayer on our minds and in our hearts.

And so we as the staff came up with an idea.

As you walked into building one or building two,

you'll notice there's a Christmas tree that's up

and it's got these little paper Christmas ornaments all over them.

And so for this Christmas season,

what we're going to challenge all of us to do as a Willow Ridge Church family

is to embrace what we're calling our prayer trees.

Now, these paper ornaments that are up,

we had some students that came up on one of their days off this week

and cut these out for us.

They've got prayer requests from different missionary partners that we have.

And so what we're going to challenge you to do is to stop by there,

grab one of these ornaments, hang it on your tree.

And when you walk by it every morning,

that you would see your prayer request,

that you would be reminded to pray for that missionary

in that specific prayer request

and in that area in which they are serving.

And so parents, I know that's something we were challenging our kids to do.

Dawn's talking with them about that as well this morning.

And so if they come with one also, then great.

We'd love for each and every one to do that.

We do have more ornaments.

And so if every single one of you go and take one off, that's fine.

We've got more.

We'll put them up and we'll keep going.

Now, what we've done before in the past

is what you're probably used to different organizations.

Like we'd have gifts that you could buy for different people

or different places or organizations

that we've partnered before in the past.

And so since we're not doing that with gifts on the tree,

we do recognize that some of us,

I know our family likes to think of how we can help others,

particularly financially during this time of year.

And so maybe you've already budgeted for that.

Maybe you've already accounted for that.

And so what we'll have in building one and building two,

in fact, this is the box for building one,

is we have these boxes right beside our Christmas trees,

right beside our prayer trees.

And so out there in the lobby, you'll see these as you walk through

and they've got a little hole right here at the top.

And so if you've budgeted, if you would like to give,

we're going to ask that you give in, financially speaking,

that you give and you can place your check,

you can place your envelope, you can place that in the box here.

Now, this isn't your offering that you give.

This is above and beyond.

Dave's actually going to run that back there now.

So y'all can all fill it up when you leave here this morning.

But all of the funds that are put in those boxes above and beyond

are going to go to bless the Stopman family in Hope Valley Church

so that they can continue on in the ministry for what they're doing.

Now, I know that you guys know this.

This time of year in your family, right, it gets more expensive, right?

There's more meals to plan.

There's more things to do.

There's more gifts to buy.

And a church is often just like your family.

And things get more expensive as we do the different things.

And so as the Stopmans are continuing on and to plant Hope Valley Church,

there are a lot of things that are coming up.

And so we want to take this opportunity to bless them.

And so what we're going to do is we're going to leave that box

with the pearl ornaments out all the way through our Christmas Eve service.

And so you're going to have time to be able to go.

And maybe it's a check that you want to write.

Maybe you want to have a couple of bills in your pocket and drop that in there.

But then everything that we'll collect after our Christmas Eve service,

we'll get Joel Van Ham, we'll cut them a check,

and we'll send it on over there so that they can use it for the ministry that God has for them.

And we are excited about that opportunity to bless them as a church.

And we thank you for your willingness to partner with us in that.

So we're going to, in our psalm series, we've been in this for about eight weeks now.

And as we've studied through, if this is your first week,

I know we've got some families who are visiting with us.

We haven't moved, you know, one by one through the psalms.

But each week we've looked at a different psalm.

And as we've looked at that psalm, our worship team has led us in worship with that psalm.

And so it's been neat as we go through.

This morning I sat down in my office.

I got here a little bit earlier than normal.

And I was just looking at the different psalms that we had done.

And a cool thing of what we did was because there's so many different ones that we can set to music,

I actually released control of it to Berger, which was a big deal for me

when it comes to choosing what passages I'm going to preach out of.

And so he, like, gave me a pocket or a sampling of psalms.

Like, hey, man, these have got some good music that we can pull from and do this with.

And so we picked and chose which ones that we wanted to do, that we felt led to do.

And so there wasn't any particular rhyme or reason other than it kind of fits where we're at

and what we want to accomplish.

And so there's been some themes that we've seen, some differences between all of them.

You know, they've had different authors.

We've looked at a lot that David wrote because David wrote half of the psalms.

But then there's been some where we don't know the authors.

Or Moses even wrote the one that we looked at, I believe, last week.

As we read through these psalms, some are more somber, right?

And some are more joyful.

And so you feel that difference in them.

Some of them, now while they're all written as poetry,

some of them, you read them, and really quickly, like, you can see,

like, this feels like a songwriter wrote it.

Like, it feels like this is easy to set to music,

while others kind of give you that feel of going all the way back to, like,

your British literature class, like, where you're reading,

like Shakespeare and poetry, right?

Like, you have a hard time placing, like, how would I exactly sing this psalm?

In these psalms, some have focused on the past,

while others have focused on the future.

Some of the psalms have been written from a perspective of the individual.

So we hear words like I and me as it talks about the relationship with God

and what God was doing in the life of that author.

But some of the psalms have been written from the perspective of Israel.

And so we are what God has done for this whole people.

And as we go through the psalms, we see these differences that are there.

But all of them, as we've read through them, have two things in common.

And I want to kind of talk about this before we get into Psalm 92 this morning.

And here's the two things that all of them have in common.

Number one, they were written out of a personal relationship with God

and not a religious relationship with God.

And I want to talk about that really, really quickly.

Here's what I mean about a personal relationship with God.

I think that's a phrase that we throw out oftentimes,

but we don't explain what we mean by that.

By personal relationship with God,

what we mean is that there's depth to the relationship.

There's a growing knowing of one another in that.

So it's not that I know God, meaning I just know things about God,

but I know God and I'm knowing Him more every single day.

There's a depth of a relationship.

It's not that you're an acquaintance,

but you're a mingling together.

There's an intimacy that we see.

There's words that we notice that come from the heart

that are not shared between strangers,

but words that are delivered to individuals

who have depth of relationship,

who care about one another,

and who are also willing to be honest

in their relationship with one another.

But also that they're interactive.

That we see that this carries on from moment by moment,

day by day in their life.

And that's what I mean by personal relationship with God.

When we read this, we can see this with David.

We can see this with Moses.

We can see this with the different writers of the Psalms.

And not a religious relationship with God.

So let me define that.

Religious relationship with God is,

these are the rules.

Let me make sure that I do them.

And I check the boxes.

This is what is expected of me,

but I'm not going to give anything more.

And then on that, not only am I checking the boxes,

not only am I pausing myself from going beyond,

but also within that, I want the recognition for it.

If we notice so much of these Psalms,

what's dealt with is the personal relationship,

not the religious relationship.

And because of this, another common theme

that's come from these

is that we notice that the authors

focus on what God has done and what God is doing.

It's not their biography that they're writing.

It's not their time for them to step back

and praise themselves,

but it is a reflection of the heart

that understands all that God has done

and all that God is doing in their life.

And then they praise them for it.

Like, as we've read through this

and as you've been through this with us,

excuse me, I'm sorry.

Not all of these have been written

out of times of prosperity,

but all of these have been written

out of the praise for the Lord

for all that he has done

and all that he's going to do.

And that comes out of a heart

of a personal relationship,

not a religious relationship.

And so I just want to ask you this question this morning

as we get going.

What type of relationship do you have with the Lord?

Do you have a personal relationship with God,

one that's marked by depth

and growing to know him

and desiring every day to encounter him?

Is it marked by intimacy with him?

That what is in your heart

and what comes from your heart

is a reflection of that?

That's interactive in the points

to where you notice every single day

God's goodness

and God's blessing

and God's faithfulness

and the good and the bad

and everywhere in between.

or do you feel like you just have a religious relationship with God?

Well, I'm here.

Check.

I opened my Bible this week.

Check.

Somebody recognized me for it.

Check.

Right?

If someone came up to you today

and said,

hey, could you tell me

what a relationship with the Lord looks like?

Tell me what your time with him looks like.

How would you describe that?

What would you point to?

What would you draw from?

You know, it's really easy here this morning

to say that we want,

that we have a personal relationship with Jesus.

But if a perfect stranger comes out to you on the street

and says,

what does your walk with Christ look like?

What does your walk with Christ look like?

Does it reflect a personal

or religious relationship with Christ?

So we're going to look at Psalm 92 this morning

that is going to be an overflow of that relationship.

For my coffin,

I ran in a race yesterday.

I'll never do that again.

Okay.

All right.

Learn my lesson.

All right.

Now, Psalm 92.

Here's what we're going to notice within here.

It's a psalm for the Sabbath.

So it's a psalm for worship.

All right.

So everything that we're going to look in here

is going to be a psalm

that is going to describe an attitude

and atmosphere of corporate worship

amongst God's people.

All right.

Now, we don't know who the writer of this is,

but what we're going to see from

and what you would amen and notice

is that it is definitely one

that is written

out of a personal relationship with the Lord.

Start reading verse one.

Glad I didn't have much to cheer about last night, right?

Sorry.

I thank y'all that I'm at a church

that that's not awkward for me.

So I appreciate that.

Verse one.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

to sing praises to your name,

O Most High,

to declare your steadfast love

in the morning

and your faithfulness by night,

to the music of the lute

and the harp,

to the melody of the lyre.

For you, O Lord,

have made me glad by your work.

At the works of your hands,

I sing for joy.

How great are your works, O Lord.

Your thoughts are very deep.

One thing that I want us to see here

and to notice here

is that we're going to describe

God's people worship.

We're going to see three different aspects

that describe God's people

in worship throughout Psalm 92.

But the first thing

that we're going to notice in this,

in worship,

all right,

this is key,

in worship is that God's people worship.

That's important.

In worship,

we worship.

Not in worship we sit here.

Not in worship we show up.

But in worship we worship.

And the gathering of God's people

has always been central to his faith.

We see it all throughout God's word.

The second psalm that we studied

in this series was Psalm 134,

a psalm of ascent,

that the people would say

as they walked up the hill

to the temple in Jerusalem

what they would sing

for what they knew to expect

when they encountered and to worship.

Before God's people built the temple

that God called them to,

God's people would build places of worship

where they would recognize

what God has done.

God would call for himself

in the Old Testament

a group of people,

a tribe called the Levites.

And from this tribe,

God would select his priest

who would help the people

in worshiping him.

God would create festivals

and holidays

so that people would come together

and travel from far away

to worship him.

In the New Testament,

Jesus not only went

to the temple courts to teach,

but also to the temple

to worship himself.

In Acts,

people were saved,

churches were formed,

and people were gathered together

for worship.

God's word never veers away

that God calls his people

together to worship.

It's the desire of his heart.

Now, there are those

who think differently

and who will say,

but worship is supposed

to be a lifestyle.

Worship is supposed

to be what we do every day.

And to that,

I would say yes and amen

in full agreeance with that.

We are to live

a lifestyle of worship.

I'm to worship God

when I'm here

and when I'm not here.

Monday through Saturday

and all that I have.

But we cannot use that

as an excuse

for not gathering together,

to not having the family here.

I asked if you had

a good Thanksgiving

and I hope that you all did.

We had a great Thanksgiving.

And if your Thanksgiving

was like mine,

it was a little loud,

it was a little messy,

it was a little chaotic.

Why?

Because we were all together.

And when God's people

come together

in his name

as his family

to worship,

it brings that sense together.

It's a little loud,

it's a little messy,

it's a little chaotic,

but it's good

because we're together.

And so when we worship,

what we see

in these first several verses

in Psalm 92

is that God is calling us

to do some things.

Now,

when I talk about worship

this morning,

of us being in worship

that God's people worship,

I am speaking musically.

All right?

So what we just did

and what we will do

is what we're going to talk about

in these several verses.

And there's three things

that I find in this

that the psalmist

encourages us

or challenges us to.

All right?

Number one is this,

we need to sing.

We need to sing.

There's too many verses

in the Bible

to go through

where God calls

and demands

his people to sing

from Psalms,

Colossians,

Ephesians,

and everywhere in between.

Sing.

Verse one says,

it is good

to give thanks

to the Lord

to sing praises

to your name.

Now,

some of you

are gifted

in singing.

A lot of us,

me included,

are not.

Right?

That's right.

We just get crazy

on the day

after Thanksgiving,

right Tim?

But God calls us

to that.

And I want to challenge you

if you're here this morning

and you gather in here

and you say,

well,

I'm here for the fellowship,

I'm here for the message,

I'm here for the time

that we can be together,

but when the music

and things start,

that's just not my thing.

Can I plead with you

for the heart of God

to understand

that I don't know why

God didn't give us

something else to do,

but God says

to sing to him

a new song.

And in Colossians 3,

he commands

that would the churches

gather together

to sing psalms

and hymns to him.

That he calls us

to sing,

to bring forth

a song from our mouth.

And so when this team

gets up here,

this isn't American Idol

to sit back

and watch them

and applaud them,

but what they're doing

is they're leading us,

not performing for us.

And they're leading us

into worship.

And so sound ugly with me

because God is glorified

because that's what

he longs for

and that's what he desires.

And I don't know

why it had to be song.

I don't know,

but he's God and he does.

And the tendency

for some of us

is this.

And I just challenge you,

maybe in a whisper

that only you and God

can hear,

to be willing

to sing before the Lord.

Number two,

when we sing,

and let me say this

about Joel Berger.

These next two things,

I believe he does

better than any worship leader

that I've ever been around.

Number two,

when we worship,

we need to declare

God's faithfulness

not our own.

All right.

God is both the subject

and the object

of our worship,

not us.

We are not singing songs

about ourselves.

We are not singing songs

to ourselves.

Verse two,

to declare your steadfast love

in the morning

and your faithfulness

at night.

Who are we singing

about God's faithfulness?

Not how well we've done,

not what we've accomplished,

not how we have been

faithful to him,

but how he has been

faithful to us.

Number three,

connected together,

but notice what he is doing

and not what we have done.

Verse three and four,

for you,

O Lord,

have made me glad

by your work

at the works of your hands.

I sing for joy.

How great are your works,

O Lord.

Your thoughts are very deep

to notice the goodness

of what God has done.

I'm guilty of this,

but we miss the blessings

of God continually.

This morning,

I was on the way here to work

and was driving down

Nazareth Road

and kind of in a more populated

area of the road,

and all of a sudden

I realized

and I looked down

at my speedometer

and it's like 45 miles per hour

but for whatever reason

I was going 30 miles an hour

and I don't know why

I was going so slow

but I was going so slow

and I went to speed up

and all of a sudden

a deer shot across the road.

Right?

Right?

And maybe it's because

I'm a slow driver

but is it the goodness

and the faithfulness of God

there in that moment?

Right?

And what do we choose to notice

and what do we choose to do?

To notice what God is doing

and not what we have done

and to boast on Him.

For you, O Lord,

have made me glad

by your works

and at the works

of your hand

I sing for joy.

And so as we see this,

as we journey through,

as we gather in here

for worship,

what we are to do

is to worship

and not ourselves

and in the songs

that we sing

are intentional

and they direct us

and point our eyes

and our hearts

to who God is

and what God has done

and if you don't know Him

and you're here,

the beauty of the songs

that we sing

is to tell His story

of the gospel of Christ

and not our own story.

Let's keep reading

verses 6 through 12.

I'm sorry,

6 through 11.

As we read these verses,

I want this to kind of

sink into our brain

that when we worship,

we worship as victors

in Christ

and no longer as victims.

All right?

Verse 6.

The stupid man cannot know.

The fool cannot understand this,

that though the wicked

sprout like grass

and all evildoers flourish,

they are doomed

to destruction forever.

But you, O Lord,

are on high forever.

For behold,

your enemies, O Lord,

for behold,

your enemies

shall perish.

All evildoers

shall be scattered.

But you have exalted

my horn

like that

of the wild ox.

You have poured

over me

fresh oil.

My eyes have seen

the downfall

of my enemies.

My ears have heard

the doom

of my evil assailants.

And so as we gather

into worship

as victors

and no longer victims,

we need to know

that in worship,

God's people overcome.

The psalmist draws

to comparison

of two different people

in the world.

The people of God

and the people

who are not of God.

It's been a theme

throughout all of Scripture,

primarily in the psalms,

that we see this.

You stupid man,

you fool.

And what these words,

what they're portraying

is to those

who do not know God.

Verse six,

the stupid man

cannot know,

the fool cannot

understand this,

that though the wicked

sprout like grass

and all the evildoers

flourished,

they are doomed

to destruction forever.

Now I know in this world,

and people say

that the world changes,

I don't think

the world changes,

we just rinse

and repeat

over and over again.

Wickedness and evil

appeared and appear

to be all around us.

And it's not hard to see.

And the psalmist

uses an illustration

that it's like grass.

It says the evil

and the wickedness

are like grass.

It grows quickly.

And if you think about this,

if you've had the opportunity

to travel around

to different parts

of the world,

all right,

most people

don't treat grass

and really pine straw

the way that people

here do,

both of them

are considered inconveniences,

not things to use

to make our houses pretty.

So when you hear this grass,

it's what's everywhere.

And they acknowledge

because grass grows quickly.

And if you're not trying

to produce high dollar zoysia,

right,

if you just let it go,

you know,

it's all the weeds

and everything

that will come through there.

That's what they're talking about.

That grass grows quickly.

Grass grows easily.

But they do not last.

We saw this this past week, right?

Let the frost of the morning come

and they're gone.

And the psalmist writes,

and he says,

here's what the fool,

here's what the person

far from God

cannot understand.

That this is what they are like.

That we see them

and we think they're flourishing.

We see them,

we think that they're growing.

But there's just destruction.

And it's not depth that's there.

And it's not life.

But we as believers,

we don't fall into this.

We as believers,

this does not define us.

Instead,

verse eight begins for us

and tells us that we overcome.

And we are here to worship him today

because we overcome in Christ.

But you,

oh Lord,

are on high forever,

verse eight says.

For behold your enemies,

oh Lord,

for behold your enemies

shall perish.

All evildoers

shall be scattered.

But you have exalted

my horn like that

of the wild ox.

You have poured over me

fresh oil.

My eyes have seen

the downfall

of my enemies

and my ears have heard

the doom

of my evil assailants.

We overcome church

because we are in him.

Verse eight says,

but you,

oh Lord,

are on high

forever.

Forever.

Not like the grass

who will come and go.

Not like a season

who will change.

But the Lord

sits on high

exalted

as ruler

forever.

And then as this,

what the psalmist

does is that

as he sits on high,

he does something

that God is working

and that he works

for us.

Now,

he uses a couple

of illustrations

that are hard

for us to understand.

When we look down

to see in verse 10,

he describes this.

He says,

but you have exalted

my horn

like that of the wild ox.

All right,

so the wild ox

was considered

the animal

that was associated

with a warrior.

And so if you saw

a warrior

and you want to describe

how fierce they were

in battle

and how strong

they were in battle,

you would describe

them as the wild ox.

And when you were out

in nature,

when you were out

and you would see

the wild ox,

what would stand out

that would embrace

their power

and their domination

was the horns

that they had.

And that the psalmist

writes and says

that this is who

we are

when we are found

in him.

That the authority

and the power

that we have

in God

and because

of who he is

and because

what he has done.

And then the psalmist

says also,

and you have

poured oil

over me,

fresh oil.

Now this oil

was used

to anoint people,

special people,

prophets,

priests,

kings.

And I don't know

if the psalmist

was one of these,

but he says

that this is

what he does

for us.

And it was

as a form

of a symbol

of blessing

that God

as he sits

on high

is empowering

and blessing

his people.

And so because

of that

we are not like

the foolishness

of this world

that comes

and looks powerful

and looks appealing

but then dies

and fades away.

Instead that we

are beyond that.

And so we're

to worship him

for that.

And then one

last way

that we

worship him.

Verse 12

through 15.

It says,

the righteous

flourish like

the palm tree

and grow

like a cedar

in Lebanon.

They are planted

in the house

of the Lord.

They flourish

in the courts

of our God.

They still bear

fruit in old age.

They are ever

full of sap

and green.

To declare

that the Lord

is upright.

He is my rock

and there is

no unrighteousness

in him.

And the last thing

that we see

is that God's

people,

we don't just

simply overcome

that God's

people flourish.

So much

of growth

in Christ

is learning

to see

ourselves

in the way

that God

sees us.

To see

how God

looks at his

people

that he sent

his son

to die for.

to see

and to be

able to

understand

that.

And when we

understand

how God

sees us,

then this is

what it can

mean to

flourish

in this

life.

Because it's

no longer

my self-esteem

that I need

to figure out,

but it's

who I am

in Christ.

It's no longer

defined by the

things that I've

done,

but it's

defined by

what Christ

has done

and now

I partake

in that,

I receive

that,

I am

known for

that in

Christ.

And so

we see

that God's

people

flourished.

And the

psalmist

understands

this and

he writes

this in

verse 12.

He says,

the righteous

flourish

like the

palm tree

and grow

like a

cedar

in Lebanon.

Now think

back to the

verses that

we just

read.

The wicked

are like

the grass

that comes

and grows.

It's

everywhere.

It's not

special.

But the

righteous

people,

there's value

in God's

people.

And the

psalmist

says that

we are

like the

palm trees

and the

cedar trees.

Now during

the time

that the

psalmist

would have

written this,

these two

trees would

have been

considered

very valuable

and they

would have

flourished in

the area

that this

would have

been written.

And they

were valuable

for three

reasons.

And as we

understand these

trees,

we will

understand how

we are seen

by God.

Number one,

they were

valuable because

both of these

trees were

planted for

a purpose.

For a

purpose.

a palm tree

for its

fruit and

a cedar

tree for

its wood.

And so both

of these

trees would

have been

very valuable

to those

of whom

they

belonged.

And that

we understand

that when

God saves

us,

that there's

value in

us because

God gives

us purpose

in our

salvation.

To live

a life to

glorify Him

in declaring

His greatness.

So just like

the grass,

what's it here

for?

It's just

there.

It's going

to burn

up.

More is

going to

come back.

And it's

just this

cycle.

But there's

the palm

and there's

the cedar.

And in

that there's

great value

because of

the purpose

that it

brings.

Because of

the life

that it

brings.

The second

thing is

this.

Both of

these trees

were seen

as beautiful.

Right?

I don't

know about

you, but

we got

roses planted

at our

house.

We got

azaleas

planted

at our

house.

And we

don't plant

them for

any other

purpose

except for

when they

bloom.

They're

beautiful.

We'll look

at them as

we walk

in and when

we're out

working in

the yard

and during

this time

people would

look at

palm trees

and the

cedar trees

and they

would notice

them just

because they're

beautiful.

Maybe you

need to hear

this this

morning.

Maybe you've

walked through

some things in

your life and

in your

past.

You've

made some

decisions that

you're not

proud of,

that you're

ashamed of.

But when

God sees

you, God

sees you as

beautiful because

he sees you

in Christ.

He doesn't

see us in

the way that

we define

ourselves.

He doesn't

see us in

the way that

the world

defines us.

But he

sees us as

his.

I was

watching a

documentary one

time and

it was about

a girl who

had made

some very

bad decisions

in her life

and she

ended up

being murdered

and her

dad was the

police officer

who found

her.

And they

asked him

in the

interview,

what did

you see

when you

walked up

to her?

And he

said,

you know,

my daughter

had lived

a rough

life.

She had

made a lot

of bad

decisions and

a lot of

bad choices.

But when I

walked up there

that day,

I hadn't seen

her in five

or six years.

But when I

walked up and

saw her,

all I saw

was my

beautiful little

girl.

When God

sees you,

he doesn't

see your

failures,

he doesn't

see your

sin,

he doesn't

see your

ugly,

he doesn't

see your

regret.

When God

looks at

you,

he sees

the beauty

of Christ.

The last

thing about

these trees

is these

trees survive.

We planted

peach trees in

our yard.

We love our

peach trees and

every year our

peach trees

produce fruit

for us.

We get

peaches off

of them and

it's been a

wonderful blessing

every springtime.

But what we

know is every

five to six

years we

got to cut

them peach

trees down

and we

got to

plant new

peach trees.

They're not

trees that

survive and

stand the

test of time.

But palm

trees and

cedar trees,

they stand

the test of

time.

They're known

as trees that

survive.

And so when

the psalmist

writes this and

this is who

we are in

Christ,

we're reminded

that in him

we stand the

test of time

as well.

In him,

death is just

but a moment.

In him we

survive for

all of

eternity and

in him we

thrive and

we flourish

because we

are in

Christ.

I'm going to

close with this

question.

You came to

worship this

morning,

but have you

worshiped?

have you

worshipped?

Have you

gathered?

Yeah.

Have you

been here

while music

is played?

Yeah.

Have you

listened to a

message?

Yeah.

Has someone

prayed?

Absolutely.

Is there a

call when there

be a challenge?

You bet.

You bet.

But none

of those

answers the

position of

your heart

of have you

worshipped?

Have you

worshipped in

song of the

declaration of

who he is and

what he's done?

And as a

well overflows

with the water

that's in it,

so too our

hearts overflow

with the story

and the goodness

of God and

who he is.

It's not about

the notes we

sing, it's about

the declaration

of Christ.

Have we

lived, have

we worshipped

out of the

nature because

we're flourishing

in him?

That we are

a life with

a purpose, we

are a life

of value, we

are a life

forever because

of Christ and

Christ alone.

And lastly,

and there's

people who

walked in here

this morning

with struggles.

There's people

who are walking

in this morning

bringing the

tons and

tons of

baggage that

they have.

But are you

worshipping in

the victory

in Christ?

That because

he has

overcome, so

too we have

overcome.

And we are

not like the

grass that

dies and

fades away,

but we are

like the

trees who

have been

planted and

who are

there.

Would you

pray with

me?

Lord, I

thank you for

your goodness,

Lord.

I thank you

for your

grace on

me this

morning and

your protection

as I got

here.

Lord, I

thank you for

giving me the

opportunity to

be able to

communicate your

word and with

a voice that's

cracking and

coughing, Lord,

that you

endured me

through this.

And Lord, I

praise you for

what you've

done.

Lord, I

thank you that

when we were

singing just a

few moments

ago, Lord, we

could hear the

voices of the

redeemed saints

singing about

your goodness,

Lord.

I thank you for

the wonderful

privilege that it

is, Lord, that

we can worship

away from here,

but Lord, we

get to worship

here together

as a family

with our

brothers and

sisters in

Christ.

Lord, this

season we're

reminded of

all the many

things that we

have to be

thankful for.

Thankful for

family and for

friends, for

good food, for

fellowship.

Lord, we're

thankful that for

a few hours on a

Saturday, for a

lot of us, we

can cut on a

game that in

the scope of

eternity means

nothing, but we

can enjoy

ourselves and

laugh and have

that time.

But most

importantly, Lord,

we're thankful

for you and all

that you've done

in your grace and

your goodness.

Lord, you didn't

have to do any

of it, but you

chose to.

Lord, and we

stand in the

wave of that

blessing.

Lord, it's my

prayer for us

in the moment

that we'll

stand and that

we won't just

sing.

We won't just

raise our

hands.

We won't just

read the words.

We won't just

play the

instruments, but

we'll worship

you as if the

words of the

screen were our

very own,

declaring who

you are and

what you've

done.

Lord, you're

who it's

about, and

you're who

we're singing

to.

May our

worship be a

sweet offering.

Lord, may you

be glorified in

it.

It's in Jesus'

name we pray.

Amen.

In just a

moment, when we

stand, we got

prayer encouragers

on either side of

our auditorium.

Maybe you're

here this

morning, and

maybe it was a

tough Thanksgiving.

It's been a

tough weekend.

It's been a

tough year.

Maybe you came

in here this

morning, and you

want to talk to

someone about a

relationship with

Christ, about

what it means to

follow Him.

They'd love to

pray with you.

They'd love to

talk with you.

I don't want you

to respond to me.

I don't want you

to respond to the

team.

I just want you

to respond to

God as He draws

your heart to

His, who

worshiped this

morning.

So would you

stand and

worship Him?

Thanks again for

listening to the

Willow Ridge Church

weekly podcast.

We hope that you

enjoyed listening to

this week's message.

If you'd like to

learn more about

who we are, or

explore additional

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www.willowridgechurch.com

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