The NXR Podcast - September 18, 2022


SUNDAY SERMON - How To Wait Upon The Lord ｜ Psalm 33

Topics
fear of God God's sovereignty and goodness fearing the Lord fear the Lord waiting upon the lord hope embarrassment disappointment shame waiting upon the lord
Hosted by
Joel Webbon Harrison Smith Antonio Griffith Dale Partridge Wewsley Todd Calvin Robinson
Mentioned
Michael Jordan Jesus Christ John Connor Hensley LeBron James Little Faith Harry Potter Jamie White Joseph Boot Holy Spirit R.C. Sproul Gary DeMar Joel Webin Space Jam Proverbs Saruman Hebrews Joshua Peter
QUESTIONS - Should Presbyterians & Baptists Work Together？ DAILY TRUTH - Handed Over to Satan

Episode Stats


Length

1 hour and 5 minutes

Words per minute

164.18

Word count

10,834

Sentence count

815

Harmful content

Toxicity

4

sentences flagged

Hate speech

19

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Pastor Joel Webin delivers a sermon on why we must fear the Lord, and why we should obey His Word. The sermon was delivered at the 2019 Right Response Conference, which was held in Baltimore, MD.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00 Big news, really big news.
00:00:03 Our next Right Response Conference is in the works.
00:00:06 We've got a number of things already lined up
00:00:08 and organized.
00:00:09 This is what we've got so far.
00:00:11 The whole conference, three days long
00:00:13 on post-millennialism and theonomy.
00:00:17 And the speakers, Dr. James White,
00:00:20 Dr. Joseph Boot, Gary DeMar,
00:00:22 and of course, yours truly, Pastor Joel Webin.
00:00:25 We've got a great lineup.
00:00:27 We've got great topics.
00:00:28 If you want to find out dates and location and registration and anything else, go and
00:00:34 visit our website, rightresponseconference.com, rightresponseconference.com.
00:00:41 One final time, our text for this Lord's Day is Psalm chapter 33.
00:00:45 The Bible says this, Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous.
00:00:50 Praise befits the upright.
00:00:53 Give thanks to the Lord with a lyre.
00:00:55 Make melody to him with a harp of ten strings.
00:00:59 Sing to him a new song.
00:01:01 Play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts.
00:01:04 For the word of the Lord is upright and all his work is done in faithfulness.
00:01:08 He loves righteousness and justice.
00:01:11 The earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
00:01:14 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made.
00:01:17 And by the breath of his mouth all their host.
00:01:20 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap.
00:01:23 He puts the deeps in storehouses.
00:01:26 Let all the earth fear the Lord.
00:01:28 Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
00:01:32 For he spoke and it came to be.
00:01:34 He commanded and it stood firm.
00:01:37 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing.
00:01:40 He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
00:01:43 The counsel of the Lord stands forever.
00:01:46 The plans of his heart to all generations.
00:01:49 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.
00:01:52 the people whom he has chosen as his heritage the lord looks down from heaven he sees all the
00:01:58 children of man from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth
00:02:04 he who fashioned the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds the king is not saved
00:02:12 by his great army a warrior is not delivered by his great strength the war horse is a false hope
00:02:19 for salvation and by its great might it cannot rescue behold the eye of the Lord is on those
00:02:25 who fear him on those who hope in his steadfast love that he may deliver their soul from death
00:02:31 and keep them alive in famine our soul waits for the Lord he is our help and our shield for our
00:02:39 heart is glad in him because we trust in his holy name let your steadfast love oh Lord be upon us
00:02:46 even as we hope in you.
00:02:48 This is the word of the Lord.
00:02:50 Thanks be to God.
00:02:51 All right, please be seated and join me as I pray once more.
00:02:55 Father, we pray that indeed through the preaching of your word
00:02:58 that your people gathered here today
00:03:00 would arrive at a greater, more faithful, more accurate,
00:03:03 more biblical knowledge of who you are,
00:03:07 of what you've done,
00:03:08 and what it is that you require from us as a right response.
00:03:12 And Father, we pray that this knowledge
00:03:13 would not serve as an end in itself,
00:03:15 but rather the necessary means propelling your people
00:03:18 into right love and obedience.
00:03:21 The heart cannot love what the mind does not know.
00:03:24 And so today, Lord, we pray that you would fill our minds
00:03:27 with the truth of your word, that we would know you rightly.
00:03:31 But Lord, we pray that this knowledge would propel us
00:03:33 to love you rightly, that our hearts would come
00:03:37 to adore more greatly what we have come to know
00:03:41 with our minds through the preaching of your word.
00:03:44 And Father, we pray that this love would be demonstrated as you promised it would be through acts of obedience.
00:03:51 Jesus Christ himself said, if you love me, you'll obey my commands.
00:03:56 So help us through your preached word today and by the power of your spirit to know you with our minds.
00:04:02 So that we might love you with our hearts.
00:04:05 So that we might obey you with our hands and feet and mouths.
00:04:09 We pray these things ultimately that you might be glorified in all the earth, but we also pray these things for the good of those people that you're saving across the globe, in our city, and perhaps if you would be so kind, even in this very room, especially among our children.
00:04:26 We pray these things in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
00:04:29 All right, there are three primary portions of our text today that I believe perfectly
00:04:36 capture the main theme, the predominant theme of Psalm 33.
00:04:41 These three portions are as follows, verses 8 through 11, and verses 18 and 19, and then
00:04:48 verses 20 through 22.
00:04:50 I've taken these three portions and broken them up into three sections of the text, three
00:04:56 sections of the sermon.
00:04:58 So the first thing that we'll see from verses 8 through 11 is this, the reason for fearing the Lord, the reason for fearing the Lord, why we must fear God.
00:05:10 The next thing that we'll see from verses 18 and 19 are the benefits for fearing the Lord.
00:05:16 Not only why the Lord is to be feared, but the benefits that we receive by fearing him.
00:05:22 And then lastly, the third section that we'll investigate thoroughly is chapter 33, verses 20 through 22, where we'll see the manner of fearing the Lord, meaning the way in which we should fear God.
00:05:35 So first we see the reason, the necessity, why we should fear the Lord.
00:05:40 Secondly, the benefits that we receive by fearing the Lord.
00:05:44 And lastly, how do we fear the Lord?
00:05:47 What does it mean to fear God?
00:05:48 What manner do we fear Him?
00:05:52 So let's begin with verses 8 through 11.
00:05:54 The Bible says this.
00:05:56 Let all the earth fear the Lord.
00:05:58 Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
00:06:01 For He spoke and it came to be.
00:06:04 God is the only one in all the universe who creates ex nihilo.
00:06:08 That is, He creates out of nothing.
00:06:10 Because mankind was created by God in His image, we are creators.
00:06:14 But that's a lowercase c.
00:06:16 We create, we build, we cultivate, but not out of nothing.
00:06:20 We create and build and multiply using what God has provided for us.
00:06:25 We use substance.
00:06:27 We use materials.
00:06:28 We use resources, the things that God has generously provided.
00:06:31 But God alone is the capital C creator.
00:06:35 He creates out of nothing. 0.90
00:06:36 And not by the work of his hands, not by the sweat of his brow.
00:06:41 God creates by the mere words of his mouth.
00:06:45 He spoke and it came to pass.
00:06:47 It's the power of our triune God, the creator of all things.
00:06:53 He commanded, and not only did it come to pass, but verse 9 finishes by saying, it stood firm.
00:07:00 See, we create things, and don't they quickly dwindle?
00:07:03 They quickly break down.
00:07:05 From time to time, mankind is able to achieve certain innovations, inventions, and creations that stand the test of time for a period.
00:07:13 perhaps for a few decades perhaps for a century or even a few centuries but god creates and it
00:07:19 stands firm what god makes he makes by the the mere breath of his mouth and it lasts it endures
00:07:26 and it does not fade until he says that it fades uh colossians tells us that the son of god the
00:07:32 second member of the eternal trinity that he upholds all things by the word of his power
00:07:38 So God not only creates things by his word, he spoke and it came into being, but the son
00:07:44 of God upholds these things by the word of his power.
00:07:48 Everything at the end of the day, if we were to break down, we have microscopes, high power
00:07:53 that we can see, you know, that there aren't just molecules, but within those molecules
00:07:56 there are atoms and within them there are protons and electrons and we break it down
00:08:00 further and further to isotopes.
00:08:02 And if we were really able to see at the very bottom, because we always, we've come
00:08:07 up through science we say this is the rudimentary you know building block this is the smallest
00:08:13 particle this is what everything is built on no if we could get down to the very bottom of it we'd
00:08:17 find it keeps going it keeps going and what's at the very bottom of everything that exists is the
00:08:23 word of God not just an atom not just a molecule not some proton or what's at the very bottom
00:08:30 sustaining and holding together all things is that God is speaking he's speaking I think of Aslan
00:08:38 the great lion in the in the Narnia series of C.S. Lewis that he speaks he's breathing and actually
00:08:44 the the illustration that C.S. Lewis uses is that he's singing and as he sings the world Narnia
00:08:52 comes into existence and the reality is that our God he sang he spoke and all things came into
00:08:58 existence and he is still speaking to this day and by the word of his power all things are being
00:09:04 held together it's an amazing thought experiment just to imagine for a moment that the very cross
00:09:11 and nails with the son of God Jesus Christ was hanging at Calvary when he was crucified that
00:09:17 that every splinter and fiber in that wooden beam in that cross and every molecule of iron in these
00:09:23 nails was actually being held together by the one who was hanging there if he stopped speaking
00:09:31 if he ceased for a moment to be God it would all disintegrate it would all disappear it all fall
00:09:37 apart so the very one who is being crucified is holding together the creation and the people who
00:09:44 are crucifying him by the word of his power in him and through him and for him all things exist
00:09:51 God is the creator, and he creates, and it stands firm.
00:09:56 Verse 10, the Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing.
00:10:00 To nothing.
00:10:02 He frustrates their plans.
00:10:06 The counsel of the Lord, see by contrast now, verse 11, but his counsel, another word for that would be his strategy, his plans.
00:10:13 It's the same concept.
00:10:14 So the counsel or the plans, the strategies of the nations, the Lord brings to nothing.
00:10:20 But the Lord's counsel, his plans, his strategies, by contrast, stand forever.
00:10:27 They endure forever.
00:10:29 Now notice his creation, it says, it stands firm.
00:10:32 That's the end of verse 9.
00:10:33 He commanded and it stood firm.
00:10:36 But his plans, not just galaxies, right, not just cosmos, but his plans endure forever.
00:10:45 Now, the new heavens and the new earth, I'm not saying that this world would melt away,
00:10:49 that this world will cease to exist.
00:10:50 I don't believe that.
00:10:52 I believe that this world will be restored.
00:10:54 The second Peter does talk about
00:10:55 the world dissolving like snow, right?
00:10:58 We have a well-known hymn that says,
00:11:00 the earth will soon dissolve like snow, right?
00:11:04 And that is scriptural, but that is analogical.
00:11:09 It's not literal.
00:11:10 The new heavens and the new earth
00:11:12 is going to be this earth restored.
00:11:15 That's why the Bible says that creation itself groans
00:11:18 with great expectations for what?
00:11:20 For the sons of God to be revealed.
00:11:23 Now there are some two kingdom theologians today,
00:11:26 which I would strongly disagree with,
00:11:28 who would say that the earth is groaning,
00:11:31 the creation itself is groaning with great expectations
00:11:34 to give way to the sons of God,
00:11:37 meaning to cease to exist, to dissolve like snow,
00:11:40 so that the sons of God might come into this consummation
00:11:44 of a new earth, completely new.
00:11:47 I don't believe that's what the Bible teaches. 0.99
00:11:49 I don't believe that that is biblically faithful. 0.74
00:11:52 Rather, the creation is groaning with great expectations for the sons of God to be revealed,
00:11:57 not so that the creation can endure a mercy killing from the Lord,
00:12:02 but rather because as the sons of God are revealed on that final day,
00:12:06 the creation itself will be renewed.
00:12:08 Not done away with, not put out to pasture, but restored and renewed.
00:12:14 And so the creation, the cosmos, there is a sense in which it endures forever, but it will change.
00:12:22 It will undergo transition.
00:12:25 But the plans of the Lord, however, his decrees, his determinative will last forever.
00:12:35 It endures.
00:12:36 It doesn't just stand firm.
00:12:37 It stands firm forever.
00:12:39 It endures forever.
00:12:41 the plans of his heart to all, not just the thousandth generation, but all generations.
00:12:49 The will of God, the plans of God do not ever fail. The word of the Lord never returns void,
00:12:57 but they also never change. God is not a man that he should change his mind, the scripture says,
00:13:04 or that he should lie. What he has determined in eternity past, in the councils of eternity,
00:13:09 The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit has never altered.
00:13:12 It has never been revised.
00:13:14 It has never been amended.
00:13:15 It has never changed.
00:13:16 Not once.
00:13:17 God is not in process.
00:13:19 He's not coming into new information
00:13:20 and changing his plans on the fly.
00:13:24 God is the omniscient God.
00:13:26 He has known the end from the beginning.
00:13:29 He has decreed and it shall come to pass.
00:13:32 His plans endure forever.
00:13:35 The plans of the peoples, the plans of nations,
00:13:37 the Lord brings them to nothing.
00:13:40 Any plan that any nation makes
00:13:42 that would oppose the plans of God,
00:13:44 God will bring them to nothing.
00:13:47 It is an exercise of futility.
00:13:50 It's a waste because God's plans
00:13:54 will not be thwarted by anyone.
00:13:57 They endure forever.
00:14:00 So God frustrates the plans of men,
00:14:02 but the plans of God's heart stand forever.
00:14:04 Therefore, those who seek to oppose God
00:14:06 will be destroyed. Their opposition is futile. Therefore, let all the peoples of the earth
00:14:13 fear the Lord. You can't oppose him. It's meaningless. It's pointless. It's futile.
00:14:20 It's impossible. So if you can't oppose him, rather you should fear him. Let all the peoples
00:14:29 of the earth fear the Lord rather than oppose him. Let them stand in awe. And here we get in our text
00:14:35 a little bit, for a moment, a brief description of what it looks like to fear the Lord.
00:14:42 To stand in awe of Him, rather than to stand against Him. There are at least two types of
00:14:51 fear that I think we find in these few verses, verses 8 through 11, at least two types of fear
00:14:57 in relation to God, in relation to fearing God. And I think we find these two types of fearing God
00:15:04 all throughout the scripture,
00:15:07 not merely in our text this morning.
00:15:09 They are as follows.
00:15:10 The fear of dread and the fear of awe.
00:15:15 The fear of dread and the fear of awe.
00:15:18 See, what causes people to dread the sovereign power of God,
00:15:22 to have the fear of dread rather than the fear of awe,
00:15:25 is ultimately idolatry.
00:15:28 It's sin.
00:15:29 It's unbelief.
00:15:31 But what causes people to stand in awe of the sovereign power of God
00:15:35 is a heart that desires what God desires.
00:15:39 See, so the fear of dread, another label that we could give to that category of fear
00:15:44 as it relates to God would be the fear of judgment.
00:15:48 There is no fear of judgment, the scripture says, for those who are in Christ Jesus.
00:15:53 If you're in Christ, no longer will you fear God in the sense of the fear of dread,
00:15:58 the fear of judgment, the fear of punishment.
00:16:02 But the Christian, even into eternity,
00:16:05 will always fear God in the sense of reverence and awe.
00:16:09 Not to stand in dread of him, but to stand in awe of him.
00:16:14 And what is the determinative factor between the two?
00:16:18 What makes the difference in your fear in relation to God
00:16:22 or whether or not you stand in dread of God
00:16:24 or stand in awe of God?
00:16:27 This is what it comes down to.
00:16:28 your desire? Do you have idolatrous desire or righteous desire? See, the people who dread God
00:16:39 are the people who don't want what God does. Think of it like this. I mean, obviously this is
00:16:45 an argument going from the greater all the way down to the lesser, infinitely so. But imagine
00:16:52 Michael Jordan. I'm going to use Michael Jordan as an example, not LeBron James, because I don't
00:16:56 like that guy. That guy has horrible cultural views. So we're going to go to Michael Jordan.
00:17:00 All right. So imagine Michael Jordan. If you're a Bulls fan, you stand in awe, right? It's the
00:17:08 fear of awe. You're watching a national, you know, final, final game. It's the national championship
00:17:15 and Michael Jordan's on the court and you are just, I mean, he's putting 70, 78 points up on
00:17:21 the board and you are just sitting there and there is this sense of like reverence. Now,
00:17:25 obviously nothing compared to what we should have for God.
00:17:27 It's an argument from the greater to the lesser.
00:17:30 But my point is, there's this sense of awe.
00:17:32 You're just sitting back and you're just like,
00:17:34 you're just watching what this guy is just born to do.
00:17:37 You know, you're watching the game
00:17:39 and you've literally got like Space Jam going in your head.
00:17:41 I believe I can fly.
00:17:43 You can fly, Jordan.
00:17:44 You can.
00:17:45 I'm seeing it happen right now.
00:17:46 And you're just in awe watching him do what he does so well.
00:17:51 So incredibly well.
00:17:52 if you are a fan of the other team that Jordan's playing you have the fear of dread you're not
00:18:02 sitting back watching Jordan in awe you're watching him in dread you're like oh no right you know
00:18:09 you like the famous game where when he had he had like the flu you're like finally thank goodness
00:18:15 there's a God in heaven we've got a chance and then with the flu with like a blanket wrapped
00:18:19 around him, you know, and sweating, and he's still just dominating, and there's just the fear of
00:18:24 dread. Oh my gosh, he can't be stopped. He's invulnerable. He's invincible. What is, that's
00:18:30 what it is with God. See, if you oppose him, if you're rooting for the other team, namely the
00:18:36 autonomous team, namely the team of man, your team, then it's the fear of dread, because he can't be
00:18:45 stopped. He can't be thwarted. He cannot be opposed. But if God is your champion, if you're
00:18:53 on his team, then you sit back and there's still this fear and wonder, reverence and amazement
00:19:01 and awe. But it's a positive sensation. It's this sense of he's fighting for me.
00:19:10 right now he's upholding galaxies and planets for me he's orchestrating every thought and deed of
00:19:19 man for me he's my champion this is my team he's my captain he's my god and i'm his people
00:19:29 and so i watch his power with with the kind of fear of watching like a a giant thunderstorm
00:19:37 like we've had recently, where the lightning, I mean, I've never seen anything like it in the
00:19:41 last few months where, you know, it's one thing where you're like, you're waiting with anticipation
00:19:44 for the lightning, right? And it takes a couple minutes each time. You're like, whoa, that was a
00:19:48 big one. Whoa, that was cool. But we've had some storms lately where it's like every two or three
00:19:53 seconds, just boom, boom, boom, boom. It's like, it's like the 4th of July. You know, it's like
00:19:59 firework show. And it's just constant. And you're just amazed. And every now and then there's such
00:20:04 a distinct, thick, visible bolt.
00:20:08 I mean, it's just insane.
00:20:11 And you're watching with this sense of awe, reverence, meaning I don't want to get too
00:20:16 close to that.
00:20:18 Right?
00:20:18 Again, the 1689 in Westminster, they say that God is the most pure spirit without body,
00:20:23 parts, and passions, and he dwells in unapproachable light.
00:20:28 Right?
00:20:29 I think of Hebrews, it says, without holiness, no one will see the Lord.
00:20:34 This, this brilliance, the Westminster in 1689, they go further to say that, that Christ will
00:20:42 destroy when he returns, he will destroy, completely destroy his enemies with what? It
00:20:48 actually says what, what, what tool, what weapon he'll wield in order to accomplish the destruction
00:20:54 of his foes. You know what it says? With the brilliance of his coming. Isn't that insane?
00:21:00 It doesn't just say he's going to go ham, you know, like wielding a sword and do, I mean, 0.87
00:21:04 there is a sword coming out of his mouth.
00:21:05 Revelation gives us that description, right?
00:21:08 This robe dripped in blood,
00:21:10 riding on a white horse, a tattoo on his side.
00:21:13 So there is this image of Christ,
00:21:14 but the reality is he's going to completely
00:21:17 dominate his foes
00:21:20 by just the brilliance of his coming.
00:21:23 I think of Gandalf.
00:21:24 I'm going back through the Lord of the Rings right now
00:21:26 and the Fellowship of the Ring,
00:21:27 and I think of Gandalf,
00:21:29 those moments where he's not even wielding a sword
00:21:32 or beating someone down with his staff
00:21:34 for even necessarily casting a specific spell,
00:21:37 but it's just the brilliance of his coming
00:21:39 when he goes from Gandalf the Grey to Gandalf the White.
00:21:42 And by the way, no spoiler alerts.
00:21:44 I feel no guilt whatsoever.
00:21:45 This is a book that's been out for decades.
00:21:47 If you haven't gotten there by now, that's on you.
00:21:50 You know, so anyways, but Gandalf is the brilliance,
00:21:52 you know, when he sheds,
00:21:53 remember when he goes to Rohan 1.00
00:21:55 and the king is taken over by Saruman
00:21:57 and there's a spell on him and he's like decrepit.
00:22:00 And you know, in the movies, it gives this line of,
00:22:02 you know you have no power here and it's like this mocking ridiculing laugh and scoff and then
00:22:09 Gandalf throws out he's already transformed to Gandalf the white but nobody knows and he throws
00:22:13 off his outer robe and it's the brilliance and all of a sudden the king who's basically like
00:22:18 demonically possessed in that moment by Saruman the wicked wizard he's taken aback and Gandalf
00:22:24 doesn't even touch him but it's the brilliance of Gandalf in that moment so too Jesus it's the
00:22:30 brilliance of his coming that will dismantle and dominate every foe. And my point is this,
00:22:36 like lightning in the distance, there's an awe, there's a reverence, but there's a fear.
00:22:43 I don't want to get too close. I mean, everyone who encountered God in the scripture, a theophany,
00:22:49 like Moses in the burning bush, or let's just, again, argument from the greater to the lesser,
00:22:53 everyone who encountered even a mere angel what is their immediate response it's to fall down
00:22:59 prostrate on the ground in fear in trembling they have to be they have to be encouraged and affirmed
00:23:09 by the angel take heart and angels would have to beg people even righteous people like Joshua
00:23:15 don't worship me I'm not God I'm merely a messenger don't fall down don't worship me
00:23:21 don't fear me stand up have courage right don't allow your knees to buckle take heart I have a
00:23:28 message from God there's this reverence this fear this awe and so and these are for the people who
00:23:36 love God these are instances of of the righteous who desire the things that God desires who want
00:23:44 to see God's will come to pass and who are working for God's will in obedience to come to pass and
00:23:50 even these individuals, there's a holy terror that comes upon them. But it's not dread. See,
00:24:02 there's a difference in, oh my goodness, I'm terrified. I am terrified versus dread. Oh no.
00:24:11 Please don't let this be. No, see the fear of the Lord, the fear of awe rather than the fear of
00:24:16 dread, the fear of reverence rather than the fear of judgment. That fear, this fear of the Lord,
00:24:23 the righteous fear of the Lord, it's, I think R.C. Sproul once said, it's like, it's like you come
00:24:32 into the presence of God and you can't stand to be there, but you wouldn't ever dare to leave.
00:24:39 It's, it's just, he's holy. There's no other word for it. I mean, that is the biblical, he's holy,
00:24:44 holy holy and and this sensation just just engulfs you when you're in the presence of god he's holy
00:24:56 and and it's like i i i can't bear to look at him like the sun it's blinding his brilliance
00:25:03 but at the same time i can't bear to look away this sensation of of
00:25:09 everything in me wants, wants this to stop. I can't take, I can't bear it. It's too much.
00:25:19 And yet everything in me would never dare leave. That's the fear of awe. That's the proper
00:25:26 righteous fear of the Lord. That's not the fear of dread. The fear of dread is, oh no.
00:25:34 oh no I am confronted by the sheer sovereign power the efficacy of God and it is my doom
00:25:46 because I know now that I cannot oppose him and win and I do not want what he wants
00:25:55 see what makes God wonderful the determining factor between the two fear of dread fear of all
00:26:02 is desire.
00:26:04 Do you want what God wants?
00:26:07 See, it's the heart.
00:26:09 Do you have a heart that's harboring idolatry,
00:26:12 wanting your own plans, your own devices,
00:26:15 your own will to come to pass?
00:26:17 Or do you, in your heart of hearts,
00:26:20 in the deepest way, desire nothing
00:26:24 but thy will be done?
00:26:28 See, the person who truly longs
00:26:30 for the will of God to be done
00:26:31 on earth as it is in heaven,
00:26:34 who trusts in the character of God
00:26:36 that all things he does are for his glory
00:26:38 and for our eternal good,
00:26:41 that person has no dread.
00:26:43 Still a terror, a holy terror,
00:26:47 an awe, but not dread.
00:26:50 You're taken aback, you're overwhelmed,
00:26:52 and yet you're rooting for God
00:26:53 at the very same time.
00:26:55 Yes.
00:26:56 Yes, Lord.
00:26:57 Yes.
00:26:58 As the church says,
00:26:59 and the final chapters of the book of Revelation,
00:27:03 let the spirit of the bride say, come.
00:27:06 That's the heart of the church.
00:27:08 This brilliance that's terrifying,
00:27:10 and yet, let it come.
00:27:12 Let him come.
00:27:14 Come, Lord Jesus.
00:27:15 Do not tarry.
00:27:16 Come quickly.
00:27:18 I want you.
00:27:19 I long to be in your presence that's overwhelming,
00:27:22 that scares me half to death,
00:27:25 and yet, there's nowhere else I'd rather be.
00:27:28 That's the fear of awe.
00:27:30 And again, the determining factor between dread and awe is desire.
00:27:36 A heart full of idolatry is a heart full of dread.
00:27:40 But a heart full of love for God above all things, above anything else,
00:27:47 seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
00:27:50 that heart still fears the Lord but with awe, not with dread.
00:27:56 The benefits of fearing the Lord,
00:27:57 Psalm chapter 33, verses 18 and 19 says this,
00:28:00 behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
00:28:04 on those who hope in his steadfast love
00:28:06 that he may deliver their soul from death
00:28:09 and keep them alive in famine.
00:28:12 See, the benefits of fearing the Lord
00:28:14 is that those who stand in awe of God's sovereign power
00:28:17 are assured that all that power
00:28:20 is being orchestrated for their good.
00:28:23 it's not just that God is sovereign it is that God is sovereignly working for your good Romans
00:28:32 chapter 8 verse 28 says this and we know that those who love God all things work together for
00:28:38 good for those who are called according to his purpose back to the text verse 18 behold the eye
00:28:45 of the Lord is on those who fear him on those who hope in his steadfast love his constant love his
00:28:52 covenanting love they trust his character that he is faithful even when we're faithless he remains
00:28:59 faithful for he cannot deny himself he is steadfast he is constant he is credible reliable he is
00:29:06 worthy of our hope that he may do what his eye is on those who fear him he is steadfast in his love
00:29:15 therefore worthy of our hope and what he does is delivers our soul from death and sustains us
00:29:24 in famine that is trial tribulation and difficulty he delivers the soul from death he is the savior
00:29:32 the deliverer and the eternal sense and he is the preserver the sustainer the protector even here
00:29:40 in this life. Nothing can harm you that the Lord does not allow. And if he allows it, he works all
00:29:48 things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. So if it hurts
00:29:52 now, it's only because it's going to benefit you in the greatest possible way, eternally. In the
00:29:59 same way that a father disciplines his children, Hebrews 12 says, discipline is not pleasant for
00:30:03 the time but there's a long-term fruit there's a long-term reward and so too in God's providence
00:30:12 he allows us to be to be refined like gold through trials tribulation difficulty disease
00:30:22 death of a loved one all these things financial hardships the Lord at times allows us to be
00:30:28 refined like gold but only for our good it's never for the people of god it is never judgment
00:30:35 it is never ultimately condemnation it is merely discipline training refining for our ultimate good
00:30:45 and and hear this because sometimes you just you hear these pithy you know theological biblical
00:30:50 statements for our good when i say good think happiness happiness did you god is literally
00:30:57 everything he's doing. It's first and foremost for his glory. But secondly, and these two are
00:31:02 one and the same, God gains glory for himself by being faithful and good to his people.
00:31:07 Among other things, God also glorifies himself by, in his justice, punishing the wicked.
00:31:12 God gains glory for himself by his creation, by what he has made. He gains glory for himself by
00:31:16 his angels and cherubim and seraphim. But one of the ways, and I would argue one of the chief ways
00:31:20 that God gains glory for himself, that he garnishes his praise, is by his faithfulness,
00:31:26 his steadfast goodness to his people, to those who love him and have been called according to
00:31:32 his purpose. So God's goal is to gain glory for himself, but also do good to you. And what is it
00:31:38 for God to do good to you? It is to do everything in his sovereign power to orchestrate your long
00:31:45 term. And when I say long term, I mean eternal highest capacity of joy. Everything he's doing,
00:31:53 think about that. The next time you're in a moment where you're suffering, where you're
00:31:58 overwhelmed with anxiety or depression or dread, the next time that you're in pain and it's
00:32:05 agonizing, remember this, that God is only allowing that so that you can be happier in the long run.
00:32:13 Everything he's doing is so that you can be so incredibly, overwhelmingly happy forever.
00:32:20 Forever.
00:32:22 Because happy people bring God glory.
00:32:26 Happy people make for really good worshipers.
00:32:29 Happy people will sing,
00:32:31 holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty
00:32:32 who was and is and is to come.
00:32:36 God is doing everything for his glory
00:32:38 and for your good.
00:32:40 So why do we fear the Lord?
00:32:42 Because there's two types of fear.
00:32:45 Fear of all, the good fear of the Lord,
00:32:47 and fear of dread, the wicked fear of the Lord.
00:32:49 Why do we fear him?
00:32:51 Because those who fear him with dread,
00:32:53 who have idolatrous hearts, who oppose the Lord,
00:32:56 their opposition is pointless.
00:32:59 Why do we fear the Lord?
00:33:00 Because there is no other way.
00:33:02 You cannot run from him.
00:33:05 The only hope is to run to him.
00:33:08 He's the rock of ages, the cleft, the only hiding place.
00:33:13 If you run from him, you will be destroyed.
00:33:17 if you run to him you will be saved why do we fear the lord because there is no other alternative
00:33:26 everything else is doom destruction and death everything else is an exercise of futility
00:33:33 why do we fear the lord because he cannot be thwarted in any of his plans his counsel stands
00:33:40 forever his plans endure eternally so we fear the lord in awe in loving trembling and how do we do
00:33:51 that what's the difference in fearing the lord through awe versus dread aligning our hearts with
00:33:57 his coming through sanctification and through faith which comes by hearing and hearing by the
00:34:04 word of God, coming to desire more and more what he desires. Being able to say, as Jesus said in the
00:34:11 garden of Gethsemane, not my will but yours be done. And coming to see the will of the Lord, not
00:34:17 merely as right, but the rightness of his will being synonymous with its goodness. His will is
00:34:25 not just right. We don't support the will of God merely because it's the right thing to do. It's
00:34:30 good. It's good. It is our good. And if it's painful in the moment, that's only being allowed
00:34:39 in the sovereign banner of God so that we might be happier forever. Forever. Why do we fear the
00:34:46 Lord? For those reasons. What are the benefits of fearing the Lord? His eye is upon you.
00:34:53 But see, there are other texts in the scripture that say that the Lord's eyes are on the wicked.
00:34:58 That nothing is hidden from his eye.
00:35:01 Nothing.
00:35:02 So what does this mean?
00:35:04 Well, the text goes on, it says in verse 18 and 19,
00:35:07 the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
00:35:10 but in a particular way.
00:35:11 His eye is on them lovingly.
00:35:14 It is his benevolent eye, not his eye of judgment,
00:35:18 not his eye of wrath, but it is his concerned eye.
00:35:22 God's eye is on those who fear him
00:35:25 in the way that a mother's eye is on her children,
00:35:28 wherever they are.
00:35:29 Are they okay?
00:35:30 Are they in danger?
00:35:32 Are they safe?
00:35:33 Are they secure?
00:35:35 That is the way in which the eye of the Lord
00:35:37 is on the righteous, on those who fear him.
00:35:41 So we've seen now why we should fear the Lord,
00:35:43 and we've seen now the benefits of fearing the Lord,
00:35:45 because God's benevolent eye is promised
00:35:47 to be on all who fear him,
00:35:49 and in his benevolence and concern and attention
00:35:53 for those who fear him,
00:35:54 he delivers their soul from death
00:35:56 and he sustains them through any trial in this life.
00:36:04 But how do we fear the Lord?
00:36:06 We've already delved into this in some length.
00:36:10 To fear the Lord, it's not the fear of dread,
00:36:12 it's the fear of awe.
00:36:14 But what is the practice?
00:36:16 See, that's the big picture, the 30,000 foot view.
00:36:19 We fear the Lord with awe,
00:36:20 where we're terrified, but we're also rooting for him
00:36:23 because we're on his side.
00:36:25 So we know that's how we fear the Lord,
00:36:27 through awe, not through dread.
00:36:29 But in a practical sense, how does this play out?
00:36:33 What practices, what Christian practices
00:36:35 can we employ as a people of God,
00:36:39 as those who fear him, to fear him?
00:36:44 How can we practice the fear of the Lord?
00:36:46 We know the big picture of what it means
00:36:48 in a sense of a sensation.
00:36:51 It's the awe of God versus the dread of God.
00:36:54 But what do we do?
00:36:57 That's what I'm coming to now.
00:36:58 How do we do it?
00:37:00 What does that look like in terms of what we say?
00:37:02 What actions we commit?
00:37:04 How we live?
00:37:06 What does the life of a person who fears the Lord look like?
00:37:10 And that's where we'll conclude today.
00:37:12 Verses 20 through 22 of our text says this,
00:37:15 our soul waits for the Lord.
00:37:19 That's it right there.
00:37:20 That's the ticket.
00:37:23 And Connor Hensley preached this beautifully a couple weeks ago.
00:37:26 What does it mean to wait upon the Lord?
00:37:29 He preached this from Psalm 25.
00:37:31 And so I just, I want to delve into this a little bit,
00:37:34 but I also want to refer you,
00:37:35 if you want more on what it means to wait for the Lord,
00:37:38 go and listen to Connor's sermon two weeks ago.
00:37:42 So I'm going to address a few things that he addressed,
00:37:45 but maybe a couple that he didn't.
00:37:47 A few aspects of what it means to wait on the Lord.
00:37:49 But again, verses 20 through 22, it says, our soul waits for the Lord.
00:37:54 He is our help.
00:37:55 He is our shield.
00:37:57 Our heart is glad.
00:37:58 There's the happiness.
00:38:00 Good, synonymous with happy.
00:38:02 Our heart is glad in him because we trust in his holy name.
00:38:08 So even as we're waiting, even before it comes to pass, even before all the promises are consummated and actualized and experienced and received in full,
00:38:18 our heart, notice it doesn't say our heart will be glad
00:38:21 once our waiting pays off.
00:38:24 No, our heart is glad in the waiting.
00:38:27 In the moment of waiting, in the process of waiting,
00:38:30 our heart is glad because what?
00:38:31 We wait with hope.
00:38:34 And this is not hope in the way that our world uses the term hope.
00:38:38 I hope I win the lottery, right?
00:38:41 It's not wishful thinking.
00:38:43 No, this is Christian hope.
00:38:44 It is confidence.
00:38:45 hope in the christian sense this is the way you can define hope
00:38:49 as simply as possible in theological terms hope is future faith
00:38:54 that's all it is so faith comes from the word confide it's it's confidence
00:39:00 right it's not just this uh well i hope you don't know no i have faith in the lord jesus christ that
00:39:07 he is the same yesterday today and forever behold i am the lord i changeth not he is the covenant
00:39:12 keeping God, steadfast in his loving kindness, he will prove faithful in all that he has promises,
00:39:20 all that he has promised. Faith. Hope is simply living in the moment what you trust will happen
00:39:29 in the future. It's future faith. Hope is saying it's not just wishful. Hope, it has, my point is
00:39:36 hope, Christian hope has the same strength as Christian faith. And I think a lot of times we
00:39:41 may not verbalize it, but I think what we just kind of instinctively think is that in Christian
00:39:47 terms, there's faith and there's hope, and that hope is like faith diluted. Like hope is something
00:39:54 a little less than faith. Like we have faith when we really believe something's going to happen,
00:39:58 and then we have hope when we kind of believe something's. That's not, that is not a Christian 1.00
00:40:03 definition of hope or faith. No, faith is trusting, this is happening. And that doesn't mean that you
00:40:10 don't have any doubt, right?
00:40:12 Like the centurion man who said to Christ, I believe, help my unbelief, right?
00:40:16 If we had perfect faith, guess what?
00:40:17 We'd have perfect lives.
00:40:19 The reason why you sin is because you don't perfectly believe.
00:40:24 Every time I've sinned, it's because I was not fully believing what God says.
00:40:30 If I fully believed, I'd be fully righteous.
00:40:33 I'd fully obey.
00:40:34 What is disobedience but something that stems from our unbelief?
00:40:40 So when I say faith, I do believe, in the Christian sense, it is confidence.
00:40:45 But that doesn't mean that there's no part of your heart that doubts.
00:40:52 Think of it like this.
00:40:54 Rather than weak faith, think in terms of little faith.
00:40:59 So rather than weak and strong, think in terms of small and big.
00:41:04 I think of Pilgrim's Progress, one of the characters, Little Faith.
00:41:08 Little Faith made it.
00:41:09 He made it to the celestial city.
00:41:11 The company had to slow down in order for him to make it,
00:41:14 but he made it nonetheless.
00:41:16 Why?
00:41:16 Because there's a difference in little faith and no faith. 1.00
00:41:20 Those who will not inherit the kingdom of heaven
00:41:21 are not those with little faith.
00:41:24 They're those with no faith. 1.00
00:41:26 See, the unbeliever, the pagan, 1.00
00:41:28 the enemy of God whose counsel is brought to nothing, 0.98
00:41:32 as our text says,
00:41:33 that's not the person who has some faith in God,
00:41:35 that's the person who has no faith.
00:41:37 because you cannot have faith but by God's grace.
00:41:42 Faith is not merely conjured up by man.
00:41:45 It's not a mere work.
00:41:46 It is a gift.
00:41:47 It is given to those whom God chooses as a gift, as a grace,
00:41:53 by grace through faith in Christ.
00:41:55 God gives the gift of faith to those whom he has determined to save.
00:42:00 And as we steward this gift of faith,
00:42:03 As we immerse ourselves in the word of God, our faith grows.
00:42:09 But it's not so much weak versus strong, it's little and much.
00:42:14 Because whatever faith you have, even if it's little, it's pure.
00:42:18 If it's not pure, if it's not real, if it's not strong, it's not faith.
00:42:24 So think of it like that.
00:42:25 Think of, rather than like gold that's, you know, 30% gold, 30% pure, right?
00:42:32 It's a low carat.
00:42:33 It's not pure.
00:42:36 Rather than thinking of it like that, think of 50 pounds of gold versus an ounce.
00:42:41 See, the person who is a Christian, if you're a Christian, you have gold.
00:42:44 And the gold that you have, it's pure.
00:42:46 It's real.
00:42:48 It's real faith.
00:42:49 It's either small or it's big. 0.99
00:42:51 and the goal of the Christian life
00:42:53 through sanctification is that it would grow.
00:42:55 I believe, and the part of me that believes
00:42:58 really believes.
00:43:00 But there's this other part of me that doesn't.
00:43:01 Help my unbelief.
00:43:03 Help my unbelief.
00:43:05 So hope, faith is confidence.
00:43:08 It's serious.
00:43:10 And hope, likewise, is confidence.
00:43:13 It's serious, but it's future-oriented.
00:43:17 It's future faith.
00:43:19 So our soul waits for the Lord.
00:43:20 He is our help and our shield.
00:43:21 Our heart is glad in him because we trust.
00:43:24 We trust in his holy name.
00:43:26 Your steadfast love be upon us.
00:43:28 Let your steadfast love be upon us, even as we hope in you.
00:43:33 Again, all that back to the beginning of verse 21.
00:43:35 Our heart is glad in him.
00:43:37 You're waiting, but with confidence.
00:43:40 You're waiting, but you know it's already in the bag.
00:43:44 It's as good as done.
00:43:46 It's like what 1 John says, where it says,
00:43:49 whatever we pray in his name, if we pray in his name,
00:43:53 we know that we have already received what we have asked,
00:43:57 even if it hasn't come yet.
00:43:59 Now, to pray in Jesus' name, it's not like a Harry Potter spell.
00:44:01 It's not like, oh, I asked for a Ferrari,
00:44:04 and according to 1 John, it's not in my driveway yet,
00:44:06 but it's on its way because I said specifically
00:44:09 at the end of my prayer, in Jesus' name, amen.
00:44:12 That's not, no, to pray in Jesus' name means
00:44:14 to pray in accordance with his will.
00:44:16 And so long as we,
00:44:18 and that goes back to the beginning
00:44:19 of the sermon, right?
00:44:22 The determining factor is what?
00:44:23 It's desire.
00:44:24 Do you want what he wants?
00:44:26 Is your heart further and further
00:44:27 being aligned with his will?
00:44:29 See, those who love God and obey God,
00:44:32 they desire what God desires.
00:44:33 They recognize more and more
00:44:35 that he knows best,
00:44:37 that his plans are better than your plans.
00:44:39 And not just better for him,
00:44:40 better for you.
00:44:42 and so to pray in jesus name is to pray in accordance with jesus will and to pray in
00:44:49 accordance with jesus will is a guarantee that the prayer will be answered so we can trust that
00:44:55 we already have what we've asked even if it has not yet arrived so too that's the same kind of
00:45:00 principle that we see in verses 20 through 22 our soul is waiting for the lord waiting for deliverance
00:45:07 waiting for salvation there's something that we're waiting for all of us are waiting for that ultimate
00:45:11 that ultimate consummation, to see him as he is, to be with the Lord and commune with him
00:45:17 forever. But in this life, there are even situational moments that we're waiting upon
00:45:22 the Lord through a trial, through a difficulty, for vindication, right? For whatever it might be,
00:45:30 we're waiting for the Lord, for provision. Our soul waits for the Lord because he is our shield.
00:45:38 He is our help.
00:45:40 There's nothing else that ultimately we answer.
00:45:42 Remember, this is coming on the heels of the text
00:45:44 where it says horses, a war horse is a false hope.
00:45:49 It's a false hope, right?
00:45:51 The kings and all their strength, it's not enough.
00:45:55 The only true help, the only true shield,
00:45:58 help being he can provide, shield he can protect.
00:46:02 The only true provision and protection is the Lord.
00:46:05 Do not trust in chariots.
00:46:07 Do not trust in princes.
00:46:09 Do not trust in politicians, my goodness,
00:46:12 but trust in the Lord.
00:46:14 It's the hope that does not disappoint.
00:46:16 Elsewhere in the scripture,
00:46:17 it speaks about how Christian hope
00:46:18 does not put us to shame.
00:46:21 No one who hopes in the Lord will ever be embarrassed.
00:46:25 All of us have hoped for things
00:46:27 and been embarrassed later on
00:46:30 because we've all experienced as sinners unrighteous hope,
00:46:35 non-Christian hope. 1.00
00:46:36 I really think this is going to happen, right? 1.00
00:46:38 And then it doesn't.
00:46:40 And we have to walk it back.
00:46:42 Or we do what most leaders in our nation do.
00:46:44 We never walk it back.
00:46:45 We deny, deny, deny.
00:46:46 And then eventually people think,
00:46:47 well, he must have not ever said that.
00:46:49 Because surely, you know.
00:46:50 But if you're a Christian and you're humble, 0.87
00:46:53 you walk it back. 1.00
00:46:54 I got that wrong.
00:46:55 I missed it.
00:46:56 I was hoping in something that did not come to pass.
00:47:01 It didn't come to pass.
00:47:03 You were put to shame.
00:47:04 Your hope embarrassed you.
00:47:06 Your hope disappointed.
00:47:07 It didn't just disappoint.
00:47:08 It didn't just let you down, but it shamed you.
00:47:11 As many people as you voiced your hope to,
00:47:15 you were put to shame in their presence.
00:47:17 Your hope didn't just disappoint you.
00:47:19 It betrayed you.
00:47:20 It embarrassed you. 1.00
00:47:22 Christian hope never will.
00:47:24 Hope does not disappoint.
00:47:26 Romans 5 talks about that.
00:47:28 Christian hope.
00:47:29 And it does not put us to shame.
00:47:32 It doesn't disappoint us.
00:47:34 and it doesn't embarrass us.
00:47:37 We hope upon the Lord.
00:47:39 He's the only true help, the true provision.
00:47:42 And he's the only true shield, the true protection.
00:47:46 And as we wait, as our soul waits upon him,
00:47:50 as we are hoping in him, our heart is glad.
00:47:55 We have to wait for some things to come to pass.
00:48:00 But brothers and sisters, if you're in Christ,
00:48:02 you do not have to wait to be happy.
00:48:04 You don't have to wait for your heart to be glad.
00:48:08 That's a choice.
00:48:10 You can be glad today.
00:48:13 Before it comes to pass,
00:48:14 the deliverance, the protection,
00:48:16 the provision that you're waiting upon the Lord,
00:48:19 your soul is waiting for,
00:48:20 you don't have to have that come
00:48:22 in order for your heart to be glad.
00:48:25 That's a lie.
00:48:27 Your heart can be glad as you wait upon the Lord.
00:48:30 Elsewhere in the scripture it says
00:48:31 that we are strengthened as we wait upon the Lord.
00:48:35 Right?
00:48:36 There's so many things in this world,
00:48:38 in a worldly sense,
00:48:39 that the more you wait upon it,
00:48:41 the longer it takes,
00:48:42 is what I'm saying.
00:48:44 It's like,
00:48:45 the weaker you get,
00:48:48 the sadder you get,
00:48:50 the more anxious you get.
00:48:52 The Proverbs say that hope deferred
00:48:54 makes the heart sick. 0.99
00:48:58 But that's not Christian hope
00:49:00 that's being referenced there.
00:49:03 So there's so many hopes that they disappoint.
00:49:06 They don't come to pass.
00:49:08 And when they do, they don't only disappoint,
00:49:09 they embarrass us.
00:49:12 They cause us shame.
00:49:13 And they cause us to weaken.
00:49:17 They rot the bone.
00:49:19 They make the heart sick.
00:49:21 So they don't just disappoint,
00:49:22 and they don't just shame,
00:49:24 but they also make you weaker and weaker
00:49:27 and more and more sad and miserable.
00:49:31 But Christian hope, those whose souls wait upon the Lord for his help, his shield, that is his provision, his protection,
00:49:40 in the ultimate sense of salvation, but even in this life, those who wait upon the Lord, who hope in him,
00:49:46 that hope doesn't disappoint, it doesn't put you to shame, and as you wait, you're getting stronger.
00:49:53 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but Christian hope, as you hope, as you wait, you're strengthened.
00:50:01 You grow in faith.
00:50:05 The battle belongs to the Lord.
00:50:06 God is sovereignly orchestrating all things
00:50:09 in accordance with his good pleasure.
00:50:11 Our only responsibility is to wait upon the Lord.
00:50:14 And here's my final argument.
00:50:16 To wait upon the Lord is to fear him.
00:50:20 So what we've seen, three parts in our text is this.
00:50:23 Those who do not fear the Lord,
00:50:25 in the Christian sense, the fear of awe,
00:50:27 but rather they fear him with dread,
00:50:30 With dread, all their plans are made to be nothing.
00:50:37 Their opposition is futile, and ultimately, their end is destruction
00:50:41 by the brilliance of his coming.
00:50:44 But for those who fear the Lord with awe and reverence,
00:50:48 God's eye is on them.
00:50:49 That's the benefit.
00:50:51 The benefit is the eye of the Lord is upon you,
00:50:52 and that is his benevolent, caring, paternal eye.
00:50:58 And he provides, he delivers, he protects.
00:51:03 And because we know this, what do we do?
00:51:06 If we fear the Lord, we know his eyes upon us
00:51:08 and that he will provide.
00:51:10 So what do we do?
00:51:11 We wait.
00:51:13 We count it as good as done.
00:51:16 We have hope, Christian hope, faith, confidence,
00:51:19 and we wait.
00:51:20 We simply wait.
00:51:21 And as we wait, our hearts are glad.
00:51:25 As we wake, we rise up as on wings of eagles.
00:51:29 We're strengthened.
00:51:31 Our hope makes us stronger, not weaker.
00:51:36 And to wait upon the Lord is to fear him.
00:51:42 See, to fear the Lord, what does it look like?
00:51:46 That's what I asked earlier.
00:51:47 I said the last thing we want to do is the manner of fearing the Lord.
00:51:50 How to fear the Lord in a practical sense.
00:51:53 what does it look like to fear the Lord?
00:51:55 It looks like waiting on him.
00:51:57 It looks like waiting on the Lord
00:51:59 with Christian faith and Christian hope
00:52:02 and a glad heart.
00:52:03 And a glad heart.
00:52:04 It looks like waiting upon the Lord.
00:52:06 Those who fear him are the ones whose souls wait for him.
00:52:11 See, the ones who do not fear the Lord,
00:52:13 they don't wait on him.
00:52:15 They just, they count it as a loss.
00:52:18 They say there is no help from the Lord.
00:52:20 He's not a shield.
00:52:21 He's not a help.
00:52:22 and they go about and make their own plans,
00:52:25 which the Lord ultimately frustrates,
00:52:27 the plans of the nations, the plans of the people. 0.84
00:52:29 See, the reason why the pagan plans
00:52:32 and makes all these councils and all these things
00:52:33 is because he doesn't fear the Lord.
00:52:35 He doesn't hope for the Lord.
00:52:37 He's not waiting on the Lord.
00:52:39 He doesn't believe that the Lord exists.
00:52:40 And even if he does,
00:52:41 he doesn't believe that the Lord is good.
00:52:44 He doesn't believe the Lord is worth waiting for.
00:52:47 But those who fear the Lord
00:52:49 are those who believe in his character.
00:52:51 They believe that he is a help,
00:52:53 that he is a shield,
00:52:54 and that he's worth waiting for.
00:52:57 That they don't merely have to strive
00:52:59 in their own strength
00:53:00 to accomplish their own plans,
00:53:02 but rather they pray,
00:53:03 not my will be done,
00:53:04 but yours, O God.
00:53:06 Further sanctify me.
00:53:07 Help me to desire your kingdom
00:53:09 above all other things,
00:53:12 first and foremost.
00:53:13 Align my heart with you
00:53:15 and help me to trust and wait for you.
00:53:19 So I just wrote briefly four things
00:53:22 of how to wait on the Lord,
00:53:24 which I believe to wait on the Lord
00:53:25 is one of the chief ways in which we fear him.
00:53:30 So how should we wait?
00:53:31 We should wait humbly.
00:53:33 Ecclesiastes chapter seven, verse 13 through 14 says this,
00:53:36 consider the work of God who can make straight
00:53:39 what he has made crooked.
00:53:40 In the day of prosperity, be joyful.
00:53:42 And in the day of adversity,
00:53:44 consider God has made the one as well as the other
00:53:46 so that man may not find out anything
00:53:49 that will be after him.
00:53:52 Who can make straight what he has made crooked?
00:53:56 Now notice, you would think it would say,
00:53:58 who can make crooked what he has made straight?
00:54:02 Which is also true.
00:54:03 And the scripture speaks to that principle elsewhere.
00:54:07 But in Ecclesiastes chapter seven, verse 13 and 14,
00:54:09 it says, who can make straight what he has made crooked?
00:54:13 See, that's what we typically do.
00:54:15 We don't try to make things crooked
00:54:16 that God has made straight.
00:54:18 We try to make straight the things that God has decided
00:54:21 in his sovereignty to make crooked.
00:54:24 The things that we feel,
00:54:25 this is not how it's supposed to be.
00:54:28 That's what the text is saying.
00:54:29 It's not really crooked in the sense of God's design,
00:54:34 in the sense of God's eternal plan.
00:54:36 He does all things well.
00:54:37 But in our human perspective,
00:54:39 something is not as it should be, according to us.
00:54:42 something's off it's not this wasn't supposed to happen this wasn't supposed to be like this
00:54:50 or this other thing was supposed to come to pass why hasn't it my life was supposed to be like
00:54:56 this this is broken it's off it's crooked it's crooked but ecclesiastes 7 13 says consider
00:55:06 the work of God. Who can make straight what he has made crooked? Now, that doesn't mean that we
00:55:13 don't even try. That doesn't mean that we just succumb to not even having any effort in life,
00:55:19 just being, you know, lazy and apathetic and nihilist. That's not what it's saying. But what
00:55:25 it is saying is that there's a humility. There's a humility. It says, at the end of the day, God is
00:55:31 sovereign over all things. I see this as being crooked, but at the end of the day, nothing is
00:55:37 that God has not done. And whatever he has done at the end of the day, I can't change it. I can't.
00:55:44 And so I'm going to, I'm going to seek to ultimately not fix my life, but be obedient to
00:55:49 God's words, which lends towards blessing. And I'm going to trust that the blessing will come,
00:55:55 that the crooked path will straighten if the Lord intends, but he's going to do it.
00:56:00 I'm going to be faithful.
00:56:01 I'm just following my marching orders.
00:56:03 God is the one who makes crooked lines straight.
00:56:07 God's the one, ultimately, who will bring about the victory.
00:56:10 I'm going to fight in the battle, but the battle belongs to the Lord.
00:56:13 There's a sense of humility.
00:56:15 There's a sense of being small.
00:56:18 Recognizing just how small you are.
00:56:20 And recognizing that the Lord, his ways are higher than our ways.
00:56:23 His plans are not our plans.
00:56:25 It's a submission.
00:56:26 It's submitting your will to his.
00:56:29 that he is sovereign, and that he knows best.
00:56:33 So we wait humbly, we wait quietly as well.
00:56:37 Limitations chapter three, verse 26 says,
00:56:39 it is good that one should wait quietly
00:56:41 for the salvation of the Lord.
00:56:43 Psalm chapter 65, verse five says this,
00:56:46 for God alone, oh my soul, wait in silence,
00:56:50 for my hope is from him.
00:56:52 Psalm chapter 46, verse one through three says this,
00:56:55 God is our refuge and strength,
00:56:57 a very present help in times of trouble.
00:56:59 Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
00:57:11 What does it mean to wait quietly?
00:57:13 It's a quietness of heart.
00:57:16 What it means to wait quietly is to wait, really, you wouldn't think this.
00:57:21 It almost sounds ironic, but I believe it's true in a faithful exegesis.
00:57:25 To wait quietly is to wait courageously.
00:57:27 it's the one who fears
00:57:30 who's incessantly talking
00:57:33 it's the one who's anxious
00:57:36 who worries
00:57:38 who can't stop talking
00:57:40 about the thing that they worry about
00:57:41 they're having the same conversation
00:57:43 again and again and again
00:57:44 and I know this
00:57:45 I'm a sinner
00:57:46 I've done this
00:57:47 it's the thing that you feel powerless with
00:57:49 the thing that you dread
00:57:51 the thing that you're afraid of
00:57:52 it's not courage
00:57:54 it's fear
00:57:55 that causes us to run over a problem again and again and again.
00:57:59 Our head, our wheels in our head constantly turning,
00:58:02 thinking about it, discussing it,
00:58:04 talking about it again and again and again.
00:58:06 You see, the quiet heart to wait on the Lord in silence
00:58:10 is to wait with a sense of security.
00:58:13 It's to wait with courage.
00:58:15 It's the courageous who can be silent.
00:58:18 Think of Jesus, the model of courage,
00:58:20 the great general of our faith.
00:58:22 He stood before Pontius Pilate silent.
00:58:25 Like a lamb led before the slaughter, he was silent before his accusers.
00:58:33 See, courageous people, courageous people can be silent.
00:58:38 The fearful are not silent.
00:58:40 What would a fearful person do if they're led before the slaughter?
00:58:44 Well, what does a fearful person do in the presence of their accusers?
00:58:49 They talk.
00:58:51 They're frantic.
00:58:53 They're frantic.
00:58:54 Defense after defense and this after that
00:58:57 and excuse that and da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
00:59:00 Fearful people are not quiet people.
00:59:04 No, to wait on the Lord in silence
00:59:06 is to wait on the Lord in courage.
00:59:09 It's to submit that situation,
00:59:12 that problem, that trial to the Lord.
00:59:15 It belongs to you.
00:59:17 The Lord vindicates the righteous.
00:59:19 Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.
00:59:21 I give it to you.
00:59:23 I don't have to talk about it.
00:59:25 I don't have to always think about it.
00:59:27 It doesn't need to be the first thing on my mind
00:59:29 and the last thing on my mind
00:59:30 when I lay my head on my pillow at night.
00:59:32 No, I don't have to obsess about this.
00:59:36 There's a stillness that comes with courageous trust.
00:59:40 When we really trust, when we really have courage
00:59:43 in the character of God and his promises,
00:59:46 we can be still.
00:59:48 We can wait quietly.
00:59:49 So wait humbly, recognizing that ultimately
00:59:51 the Lord is sovereign.
00:59:52 We can't make straight what he has made crooked.
00:59:55 Wait humbly.
00:59:56 Realize that he is big and that you are small.
00:59:59 Wait quietly.
01:00:00 That is with a stillness that comes not from weakness,
01:00:04 but actually from courage.
01:00:06 And wait obediently.
01:00:08 So this goes back to, it doesn't just mean apathetic.
01:00:10 It doesn't mean don't do anything.
01:00:11 But what are you doing?
01:00:13 What he says.
01:00:16 So it's not like as you're waiting for deliverance
01:00:18 or waiting for provision that you can't do anything.
01:00:19 It doesn't mean like the only way to wait on the Lord
01:00:22 is to do nothing.
01:00:22 I'm just waiting on God, right?
01:00:24 For provision, have you applied for a job?
01:00:27 No, I'm just waiting on the Lord.
01:00:28 No, that's not what it means.
01:00:31 So what does it mean to wait on the Lord?
01:00:33 It means wait humbly, wait quietly,
01:00:34 that is courageously, and wait obediently.
01:00:38 So you're active.
01:00:40 You're active, you're doing something.
01:00:42 But what are you doing?
01:00:43 You're doing what he commands.
01:00:46 Not your plan, his.
01:00:48 So I don't know every aspect of his plan.
01:00:50 Yeah, the secret things belong to the Lord.
01:00:52 But those which he has revealed belong to us and our children forever.
01:00:56 So yeah, you don't know every tenant of his plan as far as what vocation or what person to marry.
01:01:02 But you know what?
01:01:02 There's a lot that you can know.
01:01:04 It's a big book with lots of instruction.
01:01:09 So wait obediently.
01:01:10 Get to work.
01:01:12 Do this.
01:01:13 And trust that as we obey his commands, that he will bring about our deliverance.
01:01:18 We wait obediently.
01:01:20 Last, we wait expectantly.
01:01:22 And that's what we've already seen in verses 20 through 22.
01:01:25 That's the hope piece again.
01:01:27 We wait expectantly.
01:01:29 Proverbs chapter 20, verse 22 says this,
01:01:32 do not say I will repay evil,
01:01:34 but wait for the Lord and he will deliver you.
01:01:38 We trust that God is just.
01:01:41 And it's not even just a matter of,
01:01:43 I can wait expectantly believing that this will come to pass
01:01:45 because of God's goodness towards me.
01:01:48 We know that's true.
01:01:49 but it's also because of God's steadfast covenant with himself.
01:01:54 It's because of God's own justice, right?
01:01:58 God, I think of the scripture that says this,
01:02:00 God will not be mocked.
01:02:01 A man will reap what he sows.
01:02:04 Why does a man reap what he sows? 0.98
01:02:06 Because it's the right thing for the man?
01:02:08 Yeah, and because God won't be mocked.
01:02:11 Because God's not a liar.
01:02:15 Because no one flies under his radar.
01:02:18 No one gets away with offending me without God punishing them.
01:02:24 No, no, no.
01:02:24 No one gets away with offending God.
01:02:28 See, that's the ticket.
01:02:30 And any offense towards you, anyone who's oppressing you or hurting you or wronged you or betrayed you,
01:02:38 that you're crying out to the Lord for vindication, deliver me from those who wronged me.
01:02:44 Set the record straight, O God.
01:02:48 Here's the deal.
01:02:48 If it really was an offense against you,
01:02:51 then it really was an offense against God.
01:02:53 And that's the greater offense.
01:02:55 And that offense, he will write.
01:02:57 He will write.
01:02:59 It's just a matter of time.
01:03:00 God will not be mocked.
01:03:03 He won't.
01:03:05 And if the person does actually get away with it,
01:03:08 sometimes it seems like they get away with it,
01:03:09 but they don't in an objective, real sense.
01:03:11 But even if they do get away with it,
01:03:12 you know what that means?
01:03:14 It means it wasn't an offense towards God.
01:03:15 it was just an offense towards you
01:03:18 meaning it wasn't a real offense
01:03:21 you took up an offense
01:03:23 that you shouldn't have taken
01:03:23 they actually didn't do anything wrong
01:03:27 you were actually the victimizer
01:03:29 you thought you were the victim
01:03:31 you were actually the victimizer
01:03:32 you were actually the oppressor
01:03:35 you were bearing false witness
01:03:37 you thought so highly of yourself
01:03:40 that you just couldn't even believe
01:03:42 that it would be ethical or moral or right
01:03:45 for this to happen to you?
01:03:47 According to possible, no, no, no, no.
01:03:49 But really, it wasn't because
01:03:51 they actually did something offensive.
01:03:52 They actually did something
01:03:53 that was immoral against God's law.
01:03:55 No, it was because you were fostering 0.99
01:03:56 and harboring this ridiculous, 1.00
01:03:59 arrogant view of yourself 0.99
01:04:00 that makes anything an offense.
01:04:02 That makes someone who actually
01:04:03 corrects you in love,
01:04:05 according to your standard,
01:04:07 an offense because you're beyond correction.
01:04:09 No one could correct me righteously.
01:04:10 There's no way to righteously correct me
01:04:12 because I'm fantastic.
01:04:17 So the point is this, God will set everything right.
01:04:20 We wait expectantly.
01:04:22 We know he'll do this because he loves us.
01:04:24 He's promised to be good to us.
01:04:26 He's committed to our eternal happiness.
01:04:28 But more than all that, he's committed to his own self,
01:04:30 his own reputation, his own glory.
01:04:33 He will not be mocked.
01:04:34 He will not be misrepresented.
01:04:37 Not forever.
01:04:37 He's long suffering.
01:04:39 He's slow in anger,
01:04:39 but he will not allow these things to happen indefinitely.
01:04:43 And if he does, it's because it wasn't actually sin.
01:04:46 You were the one who sinned in taking up a wrong offense.
01:04:51 So how do we wait for the Lord?
01:04:53 Humbly, quietly, that's courageously,
01:04:55 obediently, so actively,
01:04:57 but active to what God commands and with hope.
01:05:01 We wait with hope, we wait expectantly.
01:05:03 And what is it to wait on the Lord?
01:05:04 For our soul to wait on the Lord?
01:05:06 It's to fear him.
01:05:08 And why do we fear him?
01:05:09 because you can only run to him.
01:05:11 There is no running from him.
01:05:13 Those who do not fear the Lord reverently,
01:05:15 who fear him with dread and not with awe,
01:05:17 will be put to shame.
01:05:18 Their plans will be thwarted.
01:05:20 And what's the benefit of fearing the Lord?
01:05:22 His benevolent, loving eye is upon you
01:05:25 to deliver you, to provide, and to protect.
01:05:28 And that's Psalm 33.
01:05:30 Let's pray.
01:05:31 Father God, thank you for your word.
01:05:32 Thank you for the blessing and the gift that it is to us.
01:05:35 And Father, we pray that you would empower us now
01:05:37 to worship you through song,
01:05:38 that you might be pleased.
01:05:40 We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.
01:05:42 Thanks so much for listening.
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01:05:58 Thanks so much.