The NXR Podcast - SUNDAY SERMON - Surrounded By Bloodthirsty Men ｜ Psalm 59

00:00:00.000 Hey guys, real quick before we get started, I have a small request.

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00:00:18.340 All right, this morning we are continuing with our series through the Psalter.

00:00:22.460 We started this when we first started gathering on the Lord's Day

00:00:26.420 and worshiping the triune God. 0.67

00:00:28.440 Our very first gathering, Lord's Day gathering, was the first Lord's Day of April.

00:00:33.400 And that's when we began this series through the Psalter.

00:00:36.480 And we are continuing now, Lord willing, we'll continue to the end of the year.

00:00:40.240 We're not preaching every single chapter in the Psalms.

00:00:43.520 But we are going in an order, a chronological order from the first Psalm to the last,

00:00:49.140 but skipping some Psalms as we go along.

00:00:51.440 So the last Psalm that we did, I believe was, Connor's not here, but it was Psalm 57, correct?

00:00:56.740 And then before that, we did two weeks on Psalm 51.

00:01:00.140 Well, today is Psalm 59, Psalm 59.

00:01:04.260 Now, this chapter is a little bit longer.

00:01:06.840 So what I've done is I'm taking the verses that I'm going to focus my exegesis on.

00:01:14.580 And so we're going to be focusing on verse 1, 2, and 3, and also verses 14, 15, 16, and 17.

00:01:23.500 So that's where the focus of the exegesis will lie with Psalm 59.

00:01:27.660 And therefore, those are the verses that we're going to read this morning.

00:01:31.160 So would you go ahead and join me, if you're able to do so, in standing for the reading of God's word?

00:01:36.140 I'll read our text in its entirety.

00:01:38.240 When I finish reading the text, I'm going to say, this is the word of the Lord,

00:01:41.140 at which point I would very much appreciate if you would respond by saying, thanks be to God.

00:01:46.160 One final time, our text for today is Psalm 59.

00:01:49.460 The word of God says this,

00:01:50.760 deliver me from my enemies oh my god protect me from those who rise up against me deliver me from

00:01:58.160 those who work evil and save me from bloodthirsty men for behold they lie in wait for my life

00:02:05.440 fierce men stir up strife against me each evening they come back howling like dogs

00:02:11.800 and prowling about the city they wander about for food and growl if they do not get their fill

00:02:18.460 but I will sing of your strength. I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning,

00:02:24.660 for you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. Oh, my strength,

00:02:31.040 I will sing praises to you, for you, oh God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.

00:02:38.420 This is the word of the Lord. All right, please be seated and we will begin. If you have your notes,

00:02:45.740 I've written the following. The exact context of this particular psalm is this. Now when it comes

00:02:51.920 to the psalms, each individual psalm in the Psalter, we don't always know the context of

00:02:56.820 its authorship, the context for that particular psalm's writing. But in this particular case,

00:03:02.380 we do. We know this because it's explicitly written at the top of the psalm. I didn't include

00:03:07.920 it in your notes, but if you open up your Bible to Psalm 59, you will see the context in bold

00:03:12.960 right above where the psalm begins and the context is to the choir master according to do not destroy

00:03:19.880 a mictum of david when saul sent his men to watch the house of david in order to kill him so this is

00:03:28.040 a song that is written by king david he's the author the human author the divine author of

00:03:32.700 course is the holy spirit of god who inspired the writing but david is the human author and he is

00:03:39.100 delivering this particular song, this psalm to the choir master. So it's meant to be sung

00:03:45.160 corporately by the people of Israel, the people of God in praise and worship to the Lord. So this

00:03:51.120 is something that David wrote as the author, but it's going to be executed. It's going to be

00:03:55.580 performed, if you will, by the choir master and the company of Israel in worship to the Lord.

00:04:01.480 It's according to do not destroy. Now that phrase right there, according to do not destroy

00:04:05.980 means um this is the if you're for the musicians in the room uh this is the time signature and the

00:04:12.620 key the the tempo right so it's according to it would be the equivalent of according to a waltz

00:04:19.360 a one two three one two or you know or according to um a four four times or or according to a boom

00:04:26.440 chuck right for the country folk you know like the the beat is on um on the one and the three

00:04:31.540 instead of the two and the four.

00:04:32.880 Boom, bop, boom, bop, boom, bop, boom, bop.

00:04:35.140 You know, so that's kind of, you know,

00:04:37.000 it's according to do not destroy.

00:04:38.560 That language means this is the style of music.

00:04:42.160 There was a style, we don't know a lot about this,

00:04:44.320 but we're meant to assume by way of implication

00:04:46.900 that there was a particular style of worship music

00:04:51.000 in Israel that was called,

00:04:53.000 it was categorized underneath do not destroy.

00:04:56.380 We don't know what it means, but the choir master does.

00:04:59.440 And so the point is this,

00:05:00.680 David has specifications as the king of Israel and as the human author of this particular song,

00:05:06.560 this psalm, he has specific instructions to the choir master.

00:05:10.180 He doesn't just say, sing this song, these lyrics with this melody,

00:05:14.800 but he says even more specifically than that, he says, sing it this way.

00:05:18.960 It's not meant to be saying any way you want.

00:05:22.160 This is a song with specific lyrics.

00:05:24.740 And these lyrics show to us a specific theology,

00:05:27.580 something that is true of God and true of man a specific anthropology the wickedness and depravity

00:05:33.580 of man that the wicked raises up his fist against the righteous that he rages against those who fear

00:05:39.260 the Lord so it says something specific it's specific lyrics specific theology it tells us

00:05:44.360 something about God it tells us a specific anthropology something about man and that's

00:05:49.160 not even particular enough for David he goes even further and says and it needs to be sung in this

00:05:53.860 specific manner, in this specific way. It says something about God and the manner in which we

00:06:00.100 sing this song should be fitting, it should be suitable to what it says about God. Right there,

00:06:06.300 that'll preach a whole message right there about praise and worship, about our worship of God

00:06:10.220 through song. That the way in which we worship God, the melody, the tempo, the dynamics and

00:06:17.180 crescendos and decrescendos, meaning that there is something to be said for musicality.

00:06:22.620 there is something to be said for for the tone of our singing to match the theology that is

00:06:30.540 expressly present in the lyrics meaning that when we sing of of something somber it shouldn't be

00:06:37.540 cheerfully sung like this world is passing away and the righteous are being slaughtered all day

00:06:43.720 long that just doesn't that's not suitable that's not fitting and so david whatever do not destroy

00:06:49.360 means we know that it's a particular musicality particular style and we know that whatever it is

00:06:55.940 it fits the lyrics it fits the the tone fits the substance it fits the theology all right so this

00:07:03.780 is to the choir master so written by david delivered to be executed by the choir master

00:07:08.180 with specific instructions about not just what should be sung but how it should be sung according

00:07:14.200 to do not destroy and it says even furthermore it is a mictum of david again of david meaning

00:07:20.660 authored by david he is the author of this song this song and it's a mictum that word mictum means

00:07:26.240 an instructive ode so it is an instructive song a song that that not only praises god but it also

00:07:35.240 instructs god's people which makes me think that really in our worship all songs i believe

00:07:41.180 all songs that the church sings especially in our lord's day worship should be a mictum why

00:07:47.660 because ephesians and colossians say that in our singing that we should not only address god we are

00:07:54.000 singing to god but there is a horizontal function in addition to the vertical praise of god's people

00:08:00.360 as we gather on the lord's day the both ephesians and colossians says that we address one another

00:08:05.620 with spiritual songs and hymns and psalms.

00:08:09.460 Now we're addressing one another in what sense?

00:08:12.300 What kind of address are we giving?

00:08:14.240 Well, it's a charge.

00:08:16.420 It's an encouragement.

00:08:18.760 It's a comfort.

00:08:19.680 It's a consolation.

00:08:20.540 But what makes it charging, invigorating, challenging,

00:08:25.140 what makes it comforting and consoling,

00:08:27.440 what makes it all these things is that there is substance.

00:08:29.840 It is instructive.

00:08:31.360 As we sing to the Lord, we are also addressing one another

00:08:35.160 and what makes it, these songs that we worship the Lord with,

00:08:38.960 what makes them effective, efficacious in consoling one another,

00:08:43.620 in comforting one another, in charging and encouraging one another,

00:08:47.320 is that they have something substantive to say about God and His people.

00:08:53.120 You can't charge someone with goopity goo.

00:08:56.880 You can't console and comfort the downcast with cheap, trite songs.

00:09:03.280 you need substance you need something real you need something true you need something profound

00:09:11.880 you need something deep and that's precisely what we are provided with with the holy and

00:09:17.480 spirit inspired worship book called the psalter 150 inspired divinely inspired psalms that teach

00:09:28.740 us something about God, something about humanity, something about the people of God that is deep,

00:09:33.820 it's profound, it is true, it's infallible. And this, I believe, should be the steady diet. I don't

00:09:40.900 hold to the conviction of exclusive psalm singing, but I do believe that it should be a regular

00:09:45.840 portion, a regular item. You know, you have your meats and your carbs. It should be on the plate

00:09:50.960 each Lord's Day for the people of God when we worship through singing. That we should have

00:09:55.480 holy spirit inspired psalms that we sing i think that a good hymn is permissible i even think that

00:10:03.400 a good hymn is beneficial let me tell you real quick a little bit of a bunny trail but this is

00:10:07.460 why i don't hold to exclusive psalm singing i think it's a great position just for the record

00:10:11.600 so i completely honor and respect those who do hold to that position the reason why i don't hold

00:10:16.860 to that position is this what is a sermon what i'm doing right now what is a sermon if not an

00:10:23.460 exposition of a text. So when we come together for the preaching of God's word, we don't merely

00:10:29.920 have the minister of the gospel stand before the people of God and read verbatim chapters of the

00:10:36.160 Bible. He reads, he does come before, he doesn't come before the people of God and say, I have a

00:10:40.700 dream. Don't care. Don't care. I have, I have a vision. I have a strategy. I have an idea. I have

00:10:47.260 a message. No, don't care. The minister of God comes before the people of God and says, I have

00:10:51.120 a text. And if he doesn't have a text, then he needs to sit down. I have a text. So there is a

00:10:56.400 revelation, infallible verbatim revelation from God's word, a text. But then he proceeds to do

00:11:03.460 what? To unfold the text, to exposit the text, to expound upon the text. It is expositional

00:11:10.580 preaching. So a good sermon is what? It is always centered around the scripture. It is word

00:11:17.080 centered but but it's not a mere verbatim reciting of the word or reading of the word but it's an

00:11:23.140 exposition of the word and so too as far as a hymn or a song is a faithful deep exposition of a text

00:11:32.240 i think that it's permissible and even good and beneficial for the people of god to use that

00:11:37.020 in worship so i'm completely fine with hymns and the reason why i prefer older hymns to be frank

00:11:43.380 is not because we couldn't have a modern-day hymn

00:11:45.360 and it be a faithful exposition of a text,

00:11:48.140 a word-centered hymn,

00:11:49.720 but the reality is we have a lot more older hymns

00:11:52.560 that are that, a faithful exposition of a text,

00:11:55.440 than we do modern.

00:11:56.600 And that's simply because the church,

00:11:59.960 in decades and really centuries past,

00:12:02.220 had better theology than the church has today.

00:12:04.740 We have bad songs today

00:12:06.020 because we have bad theologians today.

00:12:08.500 That's why.

00:12:09.300 R.C. Sproul, he said, everyone's a theologian.

00:12:11.400 You're either a bad one or a good one.

00:12:12.700 right and sadly tragically we have many bad theologians and because we have many bad theologians

00:12:18.300 we have many bad worship song writers and therefore we have many bad worship songs so

00:12:23.200 all that being said you probably didn't care but that's why i don't hold to exclusive psalm scene

00:12:27.480 all right so david is very specific it's he's the author it's to the choir master it needs to be done

00:12:34.160 in this style not just what's going to be sung but how it's going to be sung do not destroy

00:12:38.540 it's a mictum meaning it's an instructive song and then here's the real the real kicker

00:12:44.520 this is now providing for us the the actual physical and historical context the frame of

00:12:52.020 mind that david was in the the circumstances surrounding david's life when he wrote this

00:12:58.760 song when he wrote this song what is it when saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him

00:13:07.420 so what what is the mood of david what what are the circumstances surrounding him influencing his

00:13:15.880 emotions his thoughts what what is it that's going on in the life of david when he sits down to write

00:13:21.840 this psalm it's it's not like today it's not like hey you know we have a three-bedroom house but we

00:13:26.560 only use two of them and the third one is we we've designated that as my creative space and i go there

00:13:31.040 and and i actually have a harp in the corner and i play that for a little bit and i get in the right

00:13:34.420 frame of mind, you know, and I have my tea, and I usually take a picture of the tea first and post

00:13:38.340 it on Instagram, and then I begin to, you know, do creative things like write songs. That is not the

00:13:43.080 circumstances surrounding David's writing of this song. It's not in his creative space. It's not when

00:13:48.380 everything is at peace and everything is fine. No, this is when David's house is under surveillance

00:13:55.580 by big brother. This is when the government has overstepped its bounds and its

00:14:03.300 jurisdiction when they are policing the police state that is going well beyond the jurisdiction

00:14:09.900 that they have monitoring monitoring david's house and and not just to see what he's up to

00:14:16.180 but but it says even further than that when soul sent men to watch david's house in order not just

00:14:22.100 surveillance but in order to kill him to put him to death unjustly david had done nothing wrong

00:14:30.980 nothing deserving of death so that's the frame of mind that that's his mentality his thoughts his

00:14:36.820 emotions that's the circumstances surrounding the writing of this particular psalm now david's not

00:14:43.440 in the house i think is what we're meant to assume i think that's not explicit but that's implicit

00:14:48.860 that david is it's like he knew that the attack was coming and he's somewhere off in the distance

00:14:55.240 if he was in the house it seems implied that they would simply break in capture him and put him to

00:15:00.560 death. So I think we're meant to assume that David is not in the house. He's somewhere else

00:15:04.860 watching from a distance and imagine, just imagine yourself hiding in some bushes, you know, a quarter

00:15:11.220 mile away, maybe, maybe even a hundred yards away, watching from some bushes and seeing armed men

00:15:16.800 surrounding your home and thinking, I can't go there. I can't get any of my belongings. I can't

00:15:21.640 go and get my toothbrush. I can't, you know, I can't, they're, they're staking out my house. They

00:15:26.180 have it surrounded and if i go back to my house the place is supposed to be a place of comfort

00:15:30.940 and safety and security a person's home if i go back there the place of security has become a

00:15:37.020 place of doom a place of destruction impending doom a place of danger a place of instability

00:15:43.980 insecurity a place of death that's the frame of mind that is the circumstances the context for

00:15:50.540 the writing of this psalm all right now according to psalm 59 verse 2 and psalm 59 verses 14 through

00:15:59.020 15 which we have both of that in bold in your notes king saul and his men were like a pack of

00:16:04.960 starving wild dogs that surround and trap their prey right before tearing it to shreds this is

00:16:12.360 what the text says verse 2 deliver me from those who work evil and save me from bloodthirsty men

00:16:18.260 each evening they come back howling like dogs and prowling about the city. They wander about for food

00:16:26.600 and growl if they do not get their fill. David's own home had been surrounded by this bloodthirsty

00:16:33.980 mom. There was no hope of appealing to reason or mercy. Listen to this church. There was no hope of 0.81

00:16:41.320 an appeal, right? What is the picture that's painted in our text? Verse 2, verse 14, and 15.

00:16:47.060 the picture that David is painting is that these men that are underneath the command and authority

00:16:53.100 of this king, King Saul, they are men driven mad. These are not reasonable men. These are not men

00:17:02.340 that you can appeal to some sense of sympathy or compassion or reason or logic. These are not men

00:17:08.180 that you can present evidence that proves your innocence and that it will be received and

00:17:13.300 accept it? No, they're wild dogs. They don't care about what's just. They're not here in order to 0.94

00:17:21.420 exact justice because I am a wrongdoer and need to be brought to justice. No, that is not their

00:17:27.020 motivation. That is not what's going on. These men are here because they're bloodthirsty.

00:17:32.880 They're bloodthirsty men. And brothers and sisters, there are men like this in the world

00:17:37.760 that we live in. And there are men like this in our own nation, men who they're not driven by

00:17:43.780 morality. They say they are, they're lying. What guides them is not virtue. What guides them is

00:17:49.320 not morality. And what guides them is certainly not the law of God. What guides them is a blood

00:17:54.280 thirsty hunger for power and to use that power to domineer over others. That's all that's driving

00:18:01.320 them. There is no reason to appeal to. There's no logic. There's no compassion. The party of empathy

00:18:07.220 is anything but empathetic it's a lie these are bloodthirsty men who love violence and they love

00:18:14.600 to oppress they love to exact tyranny they love to mistreat they love to abuse citizens underneath

00:18:22.640 their power they get a kick out of it it invigorates them it's their food notice that

00:18:29.000 language that david used these dogs they come and what are they looking for they're bloodthirsty

00:18:33.380 but they're also they're hungry they're starving and they come because one they enjoy the kill 0.52

00:18:39.980 they enjoy the kill have you ever watched i've watched on youtube i'm a sucker so all right on

00:18:45.760 youtube all i do that's my only purpose anytime i get on youtube is to simply check the comment

00:18:51.600 section with with right response ministries because sometimes people are just obscene and

00:18:56.200 you got to delete a comment from time to time or i want to respond blah blah here's the problem

00:19:00.160 that takes about 20 minutes the problem is i often spend 40 minutes because on youtube they'll be and

00:19:08.080 youtube knows their algorithm is it's legit they know what they're doing you got to give them you

00:19:12.080 got to give them props they're they're oppressive too and censoring true information but you got to

00:19:16.480 give them props with the strategy so they know what i'm a sucker for one thing i'm a sucker for

00:19:21.280 killer whales and boom so i'll be i'll be going on there to check you know just the comment section

00:19:26.220 for right response but daggone it there's there's a video of killer whales and here's one thing and

00:19:32.920 I'm a sucker and I'll click on that it's like 12 minute video and I'm like oh I wish it was three

00:19:36.360 minutes but I guess I'm watching 12 minutes of killer whales because I don't know what else to

00:19:41.580 do I'm way too curious about what these killer whales are going to do to pass up on this video

00:19:45.680 so one thing that killer whales do is they don't just eat they don't just hunt to eat but killer

00:19:52.360 whales are one of the only animals one of the only predators that will play with their food

00:19:56.280 you know at the risk of sounding a little bit gruesome they'll take a seal and they'll throw

00:20:01.660 it around like a bowl while it's still alive and then rip it in half now that is not something

00:20:06.560 that they have to do instinctually in order to get sustenance or nourishment just eat the seal

00:20:12.360 you don't have to it's not like they're throwing it in the air because that somehow fills their

00:20:16.480 bellies no they're bloodthirsty they're violent there's a reason why they're called killer whales

00:20:22.060 and they are the apex predator in the ocean.

00:20:24.900 Great white sharks, if you want a good time,

00:20:27.080 go on YouTube and look up killer whale

00:20:28.540 versus great white shark.

00:20:31.320 Spoiler alert, the killer whale wins.

00:20:33.400 That is the apex predator of the sea.

00:20:35.900 All right, so killer whales, they're vicious,

00:20:38.000 they're dangerous, but they don't just kill to eat.

00:20:41.280 There's this blood lust.

00:20:43.620 There's this playing, this torture of their prey.

00:20:48.360 That's the language that David's using.

00:20:50.220 So it's twofold, all right?

00:20:51.260 so keep this in your mind to simplify it twofold these men are are starving dogs on the one hand

00:20:57.920 who growl if they don't get their fill so they're hungry for something and what is it that they're

00:21:02.920 hungry for they're hungry for the oppression of the righteous they're hungry for the abuse of

00:21:09.260 god's people they're hungry for power for dominance that's what they're hungry for the dominance over

00:21:16.420 the righteous, power and tyranny is their food source. It's what sustains them. It's what

00:21:23.320 nourishes them. This is the food on which they live. Their diet is tyranny. We live in a nation

00:21:30.940 like that. We have a current administration in our nation like that. Their diet is tyranny.

00:21:38.760 Tyranny of the righteous. So that's on the one hand, starving dogs. It is their food. It's their 0.77

00:21:44.780 sustenance. It's their diet. On the other hand, wild dogs, ravaged dogs, bloodthirsty. They not 0.94

00:21:52.940 only are doing this because it's their sustenance, but they're doing it because it's their joy.

00:21:57.380 They get a sick, sadistic sense of pleasure out of the persecution of the righteous. They're

00:22:04.080 bloodthirsty. They have bloodlust. They don't just kill to eat. They do eat. They thrive on tyranny 0.99

00:22:09.900 As though it were their sustenance. 0.85

00:22:11.840 But they don't just kill to eat for nourishment.

00:22:14.820 They also, they kill for pleasure.

00:22:17.720 There's a bloodlust.

00:22:19.000 They delight in the oppression of the righteous.

00:22:22.140 That's what we've seen so far in verse 2, 14, and 15.

00:22:26.620 Now David's own home, it's surrounded by these bloodthirsty men.

00:22:29.700 It's a mob.

00:22:31.200 It's a mob.

00:22:32.100 It's mob justice.

00:22:34.000 Now we have that all the time.

00:22:35.520 We have that in social media.

00:22:36.700 We have that with corporate America.

00:22:38.360 We have that with big tech.

00:22:39.620 we have mob justice. We live in the me too generation, right? Innocent until proven guilty.

00:22:45.700 Nope. Believe all women. What about when it's Joe Biden? Well, then nevermind due process. 1.00

00:22:52.520 Okay. Well now he's off the hook and we have a conservative who's in question. Okay. Back to

00:22:57.140 believe all women, right? So the point is we have mob justice where evidence can't be presented. 1.00

00:23:03.020 Arguments cannot be made. Reason cannot be appealed to because you're talking about men 0.60

00:23:07.360 who are without reason they're not reasonable men they're not moral men this mob justice kind

00:23:13.260 of thing that just cries out where you just destroy someone's life over the internet someone

00:23:18.320 you don't even know and everybody pitches in and everybody starts to get angry with one another

00:23:23.260 and this mob justice happens and it brings somebody down who may be innocent that's what

00:23:28.140 david has but not in the digital virtual sphere david has this happening with flesh and blood

00:23:33.260 physically literally there are men literally physically surrounding his house driven by

00:23:38.960 madness without an ounce of reason they have pledged their allegiance to king saul who is a

00:23:44.420 madman king saul has given up on reason a long time ago the bible says that the lord sent into

00:23:49.980 him an evil spirit and the lord did it it's an evil spirit from the lord that'll mess with some

00:23:55.300 of your theology right that god only blesses no the lord actually sends out evil spirits at times

00:24:01.140 according to what he did with Saul.

00:24:03.640 So an evil spirit from the Lord comes into Saul

00:24:05.660 and begins to torment him.

00:24:07.020 And slowly but surely, as Saul hardens his heart

00:24:09.700 and rebels against the commands of God,

00:24:12.080 this evil spirit gains more and more control,

00:24:14.880 more and more power,

00:24:15.800 and the reason of Saul begins to dissipate.

00:24:20.040 The reason, the logic, the sensibleness of Saul

00:24:24.140 begins to utterly disappear.

00:24:26.560 And by this point, Saul's driven mad

00:24:28.420 to the point where he's already tried

00:24:30.060 to pin David to the wall with a spear for no reason.

00:24:34.540 He's been hunting him down using all of his resources

00:24:37.780 to the point where it's actually a detriment to the kingdom,

00:24:40.580 where resources should be expended in other arenas

00:24:43.880 and other ways.

00:24:45.360 And yet Saul's saying, we need hundreds of men

00:24:47.700 to hunt down one guy who's done nothing wrong.

00:24:51.480 It's bad stewardship.

00:24:53.220 It makes no sense.

00:24:54.460 There's no rhyme or reason to what Saul's doing. 0.99

00:24:57.660 He is a mad king. 0.99

00:24:59.900 He's a king of madness. 0.99

00:25:01.500 And this king of madness has soldiers in his platoons, in his ranks, 0.88

00:25:05.800 that have pledged their allegiance to madness. 0.93

00:25:09.300 They know the king is mad, and yet they will not stand up to him.

00:25:13.600 And they have joined him in his bloodlust. 0.69

00:25:17.260 They have joined him in his quest for power and to do that which is wicked.

00:25:23.560 That's the scene.

00:25:24.320 these are men with unrestrained evil driven by sheer rage they delight in the destruction of

00:25:32.840 the righteous these are not brothers and sisters confused men well they just don't know right

00:25:40.240 because because because there's so much fake news and and and things that are true is suppressed

00:25:45.760 no no they are culpable there is a moral culpability they are not innocent by virtue

00:25:53.380 of ignorance. These are not men who are merely doing wrong things because they've been deceived

00:25:58.200 and confused. Now that doesn't mean that they're not confused and that doesn't mean they haven't

00:26:02.480 been deceived. But in biblical terms, in biblical terms, we must remember Romans 1, if it says

00:26:07.720 nothing else, it says this. Romans 1 says that ignorance stems from rebellion rather than

00:26:15.220 rebellion stemming from ignorance. There are many, even in the church, followers of Jesus who should

00:26:20.540 know better. And yet they purport this unbiblical, bad theology that says people rebel against God

00:26:28.420 because they're ignorant of the truth of God. So if it was a two-step process, it would say

00:26:33.460 ignorance comes first. And because people are ignorant of the truth of God, they therefore do

00:26:39.200 rebellious things against God. They rebel because they're ignorant. That's not what Romans 1 teaches. 0.99

00:26:44.260 It teaches precisely the opposite.

00:26:46.760 Romans 1 says that God has demonstrated, he has manifest, he has revealed himself to all men,

00:26:53.780 believers and unbelievers alike, by virtue of what he has made.

00:26:58.040 And it says that even the nature and character of God, not every attribute of God,

00:27:02.320 but namely his divine, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived.

00:27:10.040 Now notice that, it doesn't just say that by what God has made through natural revelation,

00:27:14.260 That would be the doctrine.

00:27:15.380 Natural revelation, by creation itself,

00:27:17.360 it testifies to God.

00:27:18.980 Romans 1 doesn't merely say

00:27:20.320 that God has clearly revealed himself

00:27:23.520 by what he has made.

00:27:25.040 No, Romans 1 says it's been clearly perceived.

00:27:28.120 Because if Romans 1 merely said

00:27:29.540 it's been clearly revealed,

00:27:30.640 you could still make the argument

00:27:32.020 that God has clearly shown himself

00:27:34.480 by virtue of his creation,

00:27:36.400 but maybe some people didn't catch the message.

00:27:39.380 See, God revealed it,

00:27:40.920 but something can be revealed

00:27:42.040 and you can still miss it.

00:27:43.060 You were looking the other way.

00:27:44.260 So just because someone reveals something doesn't mean that you perceive it.

00:27:47.700 But Romans 1 says,

00:27:48.720 Not only has God's character been clearly revealed by what He has made,

00:27:53.760 but that it has been clearly perceived by all men,

00:27:57.200 so that all men are without an apologia, an apologetic, an argument, an excuse.

00:28:03.040 Meaning that no man can stand before the throne of God on that final day

00:28:06.720 and claim innocence on the basis of ignorance.

00:28:09.680 Because no one is truly ignorant.

00:28:11.320 And so it is with men who pledged their allegiance to Saul.

00:28:16.080 These are not merely confused men.

00:28:18.120 Deception is involved.

00:28:19.920 But at the end of the day, deception and confusion and ignorance does not ultimately get the final headline.

00:28:27.680 It's not ultimately something that you can use as an excuse.

00:28:31.080 There is moral culpability.

00:28:32.900 There is a willingness to be deceived.

00:28:36.720 And I say all that to say that in our culture and in our nation, in our time, we see the very same principle at work.

00:28:43.140 Are there people who are confused because true information is suppressed?

00:28:46.860 Yes.

00:28:48.340 But there is a willingness.

00:28:50.780 There is a culpability.

00:28:52.660 There is a moral responsibility.

00:28:55.080 No one at the end of the day can merely claim innocence on the basis of ignorance.

00:29:00.260 At the end of the day, in the final analysis, everyone believes precisely what they want.

00:29:06.060 to believe, including you and I. That's the idea. This is the reformed idea of presuppositionalism,

00:29:13.780 presuppositional apologetics, that everyone's coming to the table with an agenda, with a

00:29:20.220 leaning, with an allegiance. Christ himself says, a man is either for me or against me.

00:29:26.460 Neutrality, brothers and sisters, is a myth. It is a myth. There is no morally neutral ground.

00:29:34.600 everyone has an allegiance it's either to God or to man it is theonomy God's law or autonomy

00:29:43.600 man's law those are the only options those are the only choices before you the only thing that

00:29:49.980 you can decide between and so these men although Saul may be lying to them about David although

00:29:58.540 Saul may be be making up some case against them that's not true there may be an element of

00:30:04.040 deception. There may be an element of confusion. There may be an element of true information being

00:30:10.080 suppressed and therefore ignorance. And yet there is also at the end of the day, an element of moral

00:30:16.760 culpability because man only ever believes what he wants. That's true for the unbeliever. That's true 1.00

00:30:24.200 for the believer as well. This man, Christ Jesus, the God, man, Christ Jesus is the most polarizing

00:30:31.400 man in all of human history you will either love him or hate him you will bless him or curse him

00:30:37.120 you will follow him or rebel against him but everyone does something with the person of Jesus

00:30:42.680 Christ everyone does something no one is neutral towards Jesus and if they say they are they're

00:30:48.960 lying and all you have to do is press for a moment and you'll get them quickly to either be converted

00:30:54.560 and love Jesus or to admit their true hatred towards Jesus. Doug Wilson says it like this,

00:31:01.700 this presuppositional idea. He says that, you know, Romans 1, all men are lying and suppressing

00:31:06.340 the truth and deeds of unrighteousness, right? So they do perceive it. They know. And then what

00:31:11.260 they do is in their rebellion, they begin to suppress the truth. So again, the pattern in

00:31:16.060 Romans 1 is people are not ignorant. They do know that there is a God in heaven and he demands our

00:31:21.620 allegiance and then people choose to rebel so the issue is not intellectual the issue is first and

00:31:27.620 foremost moral and they choose to rebel against christ and in their rebellion by deeds done in 0.93

00:31:32.700 unrighteousness they suppress the truth and become ignorant so are there ignorant people yes but 0.61

00:31:38.500 here's the question did they start that way did they start that way according to romans 1 no they

00:31:43.540 started perceiving they came out of their mother's womb with natural revelation natural law as as

00:31:50.520 image bearers of the living God they came out of the womb knowing there was a God in heaven

00:31:54.860 the creator of heaven and earth and he is worthy of worship he has eternal power and a divine nature

00:32:01.220 so they come out knowing not ignorant but knowing and then in their rebellion because the issue is

00:32:07.400 not first and foremost intellectual but first and foremost moral in their rebellion then they begin

00:32:12.700 to lie and suppress the truth and deeds of unrighteousness and they are handed over

00:32:16.840 progressively by their sin and hardness of heart to ignorance so men become ignorant that's true 0.85

00:32:23.380 are there a lot of people who are confused and ignorant yes but the question is did they start

00:32:27.940 there or did they get there the bible says they got there and how did they get there sin by

00:32:35.620 rebelling against god in deeds of unrighteousness the men in david's day who are surrounding his

00:32:41.160 house who have pledged their allegiance to saul and against his anointed holy one who was king

00:32:46.020 David, these men, although they may have been lied to, although there may have been a degree

00:32:51.200 of deception, confusion, and ignorance, at the end of the day, what first comes, chicken or the egg?

00:32:56.580 Well, what first comes in this instance is the moral issue, not the intellectual issue. What

00:33:00.880 first comes is their rebellion, their willful rebellion, and from that comes ignorance. And

00:33:06.020 that is precisely the same situation that we have, not just in the days of David, but we have in all

00:33:11.040 places in all times throughout human history including our culture and our situations today

00:33:16.360 today we have people who are confused but they are confused because they want to be

00:33:22.000 they believe whatever narrative they desire to believe and they have arrived at this state of

00:33:29.160 confusion and ignorance because first and foremost they're rebellious against not republicans that's

00:33:37.460 not the main issue not against no first and foremost they are rebellious against the lord

00:33:42.420 jesus christ and because they hate jesus they have suppressed the truth and deeds of unrighteousness

00:33:49.480 and they have progressively been handed over more and more to an ignorance but that ignorance stems

00:33:54.460 first from rebellion they're not capable these men they're not merely confused these are not

00:34:02.040 merely confused men. They are not innocent or merely lacking accurate information. They are

00:34:07.440 not capable of being persuaded by reason. If only someone would provide to them the facts

00:34:12.340 in an honest, compelling manner, right? This isn't someone that if you just listened to Ben Shapiro,

00:34:17.440 you would be a conservative. No, because it's not merely about the facts. The problem is not

00:34:24.080 merely an intellectual problem. It's moral. People believe what they want to believe. It was true

00:34:30.340 in the times of David it is true in our times today they're not capable being persuaded by

00:34:35.720 reason if only someone would provide the facts in an honest and charitable manner right this person

00:34:41.340 really would be a Calvinist if only Calvinists weren't so arrogant if Calvinists could just

00:34:45.780 present the doctrines of grace in a humble manner this person would be reformed probably not

00:34:50.440 now that doesn't mean that that as Christians and as reformed Christians that we shouldn't seek to

00:34:56.440 have a gentle tone but but the point is we should seek to have a gentle tone out of obedience

00:35:02.460 not not because of effectiveness god and his sovereignty and providence may cause it to be

00:35:08.600 effective but the reason why we want to have a gentle tone a respectful tone is because god

00:35:12.800 commands us to so we want to do that because we want to be obedient but the idea that we if we

00:35:18.100 only did that we could somehow shape the course of redemptive history and certain people would

00:35:23.220 come into the kingdom of god that otherwise won't no see that number one that undercuts first and

00:35:28.540 foremost the sovereign election of god but secondarily it also undercuts the severity of

00:35:33.900 the depravity of man man's rebellion toward the lord jesus christ is not so is not so insignificant

00:35:42.540 that if only we had compelling factual charitable arguments it would be able to overcome their

00:35:48.580 rebellion see the picture that that paints right it's not just bad theology that's a bad anthropology

00:35:53.720 the picture that that illustration paints is that man has a rebellion towards god but his man

00:35:58.800 his rebellion is small that's not what the scripture teaches the scripture teaches that

00:36:04.420 his rebellion against god is insurmountable it cannot be overcome by facts or truth or gentleness

00:36:12.260 or charitableness or winsomeness if i had a dollar every time somebody in the evangelical church said

00:36:17.520 that I should be more winsome, I wouldn't need a salary. I'd be a very rich man, sick and tired of

00:36:22.840 the word winsome, just done with that. I want to have a polemic. I want to have a polemic that

00:36:29.440 Jesus had. Was John the Baptist being winsome when he called the Pharisees a brood of vipers?

00:36:34.620 I think so, but it's a different kind of winsomeness. That's a winsomeness I want to display,

00:36:39.120 right? I like what Phil Johnson said. He said, yeah, I want to engage culture, but the question

00:36:43.940 is how he said i want to engage culture the way that david engaged goliath we're here to win

00:36:49.780 all right that's all conservatives ever do christian unbelieving or believing that's all

00:36:55.120 all we ever do is we start things and then we start a time clock for okay we'll enjoy this for

00:37:02.220 about 10 years until it gets infiltrated and taken over by the left i i if if conservatives

00:37:08.620 disappeared the left would have no institutions because they never started one all they do is

00:37:14.660 take over the institutions that we start but that's an indictment to us why why why why do

00:37:20.940 they always win why do they always infiltrate why do they always take over because we surrender

00:37:25.520 because we always surrender and we surrender because of cowardice and fear when the bible

00:37:31.260 commands us to be strong courageous but we also surrender not just because of cowardice and fear

00:37:36.500 We also surrender because of the 11th commandment of niceness.

00:37:41.020 And I'll be honest, that's not really a second reason.

00:37:43.800 That's just a thin veil for the first.

00:37:46.520 Be nice. 0.93

00:37:48.400 Spoke every coward ever. 0.84

00:37:52.500 Every coward ever. Be nice. 0.91

00:37:54.440 But what you're really saying is, I'm afraid.

00:37:56.000 Please don't cause trouble.

00:37:57.220 It'll be uncomfortable.

00:37:58.360 It'll make a mess for me.

00:38:00.040 And then I'll be forced to two sides.

00:38:01.820 And I know, I know how squishy and spineless I am.

00:38:06.960 I'll choose their side over you.

00:38:08.760 And I don't want to lose this relationship with you.

00:38:10.480 And I don't want, I don't want the gospel of Jesus that separates mother from daughter and father.

00:38:16.220 I have not come to bring peace, but a sword dividing.

00:38:19.860 I don't want Jesus.

00:38:21.740 See, here's the, at the end of the day, people don't want Jesus.

00:38:24.400 Because Jesus divides.

00:38:26.660 He did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

00:38:28.960 They don't want Jesus because they know he's polarized.

00:38:30.980 So what they ultimately want to do is they want to strip Jesus of every ounce of power, profundity.

00:38:37.740 They want to emasculate the Son of God.

00:38:40.640 But he is the God-man, Christ Jesus.

00:38:44.220 They want to strip him of his masculinity.

00:38:46.520 They want to, give me more nuance.

00:38:48.520 Good Lord, winsome and nuance.

00:38:50.040 If you gave me nuance, a dollar every time that word was used,

00:38:53.180 in addition to winsomeness, I'd have a $67 million jet plane.

00:38:57.280 I'd begin the same kind of criticism that Benny Hinn gets.

00:39:00.160 I'd be so rich, right?

00:39:01.820 Give me nuance.

00:39:02.460 But what they do is they ultimately nuance their way

00:39:05.480 out of the masculinity of Jesus Christ.

00:39:09.020 John chapter two, Jesus fashions a whip

00:39:11.040 and clears out the temple. 0.96

00:39:14.440 This is what I would say.

00:39:15.520 Gentleness is a fruit of the spirit.

00:39:16.960 But here's the question.

00:39:18.280 How do we define it?

00:39:19.820 Let me submit to you that the church,

00:39:23.220 followers of Jesus, right?

00:39:24.200 The student's not above the teacher.

00:39:25.400 The servant's not above the master.

00:39:27.280 So if we claim to be followers of Jesus,

00:39:28.680 perhaps it's unwise for us to define gentleness in such a way that it's narrower than the son of

00:39:35.720 God himself when you define gentleness in such a way that Jesus doesn't even fit into the boundaries

00:39:41.300 that you've established for what it is to be gentle then you've made a mistake you are misdefining

00:39:46.880 gentleness if your definition of gentleness precludes Christ Jesus that's another misconception

00:39:53.380 we have we think that the fruit of the spirit is like a toolbox right I'm going to grab a hammer

00:39:57.920 for this particular task, then I'll put it back

00:39:59.920 in. I'll grab a screwdriver

00:40:02.100 for this particular task, and then I'll

00:40:03.940 put it back in. No, the fruit of the Spirit

00:40:05.980 is collective. The

00:40:07.860 better way to describe

00:40:09.820 the fruit of the Spirit, just for the record, the fruit, we always

00:40:11.900 say apple, banana. And I'm going to use that illustration.

00:40:14.000 But what it really means, fruit just means evidence

00:40:16.040 of the Spirit. Manifestation

00:40:17.800 of the Spirit. Visible,

00:40:20.220 external, witnessable

00:40:21.740 attributes of the Holy Spirit. And what

00:40:23.900 does it look like? It looks like this. Love,

00:40:25.780 joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness faithfulness and self-control now this is what

00:40:30.340 we need to understand number one it's a package deal right so so this meant it's a false it is a

00:40:36.820 it is a misconception to think this person really has love but but they don't have faithfulness

00:40:41.800 no here's here's the deal back to the well back to our confession god is the most pure spirit

00:40:47.740 without body hearts and passions what does that mean parts it means in philosophical terms god

00:40:52.900 is a simple being. He's the most complex being in the universe. But in philosophical terms,

00:40:57.120 he's a simple being, which means he is indivisible. So for you, you could sever your right arm and

00:41:02.880 still be you. You take away my right arm, I don't lose my identity, my personality. I'm still Joel

00:41:08.180 Webbin. I'm just Joel Webbin with one arm instead of two. But there is nothing that is in God, any

00:41:12.780 of his perfections as a Puritan. They didn't even like the term attributes. It was the perfections

00:41:17.420 of God. There is no perfection of God that you could subtract or sever from God and him still

00:41:22.300 be God, which means God without body parts and passions, which means that the manifestations

00:41:28.920 of the Holy Spirit, who is God, by the way, the third member of the Trinity, Holy Spirit,

00:41:34.620 who is God, if you have the Spirit, and if you're a Christian, you do, right? First Corinthians

00:41:38.920 chapter six, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is, you have received from

00:41:43.120 God, you're not your own, you're bought with a price, therefore honor God with your body.

00:41:46.440 So the Holy Spirit, if you have the Holy Spirit, guess what?

00:41:49.880 You don't get 30% of the Holy Spirit.

00:41:53.280 You don't get 70% of the Holy Spirit.

00:41:55.720 If you get the Holy Spirit, who is God, you get the whole God.

00:41:59.200 Because he is a most pure spirit without body, parts, and passions.

00:42:03.380 He does not have parts.

00:42:04.560 He can't be dissected.

00:42:05.820 Which means this.

00:42:06.960 If you have the Holy Spirit, you do have the fruit of the Spirit.

00:42:10.140 The visible manifestations and evidence of one who possesses the Holy Spirit.

00:42:16.460 And if you have the fruit of the Spirit,

00:42:19.200 then you have all of the fruit of the Spirit.

00:42:21.800 So the better way to think of it is,

00:42:23.060 instead of now using a literal fruit analogy,

00:42:25.620 instead of nine fruits, an apple, banana, an orange, a watermelon,

00:42:28.340 instead of nine fruits,

00:42:29.780 well, you should think of it as one fruit.

00:42:31.180 Let's take an apple with nine characteristics.

00:42:33.940 It's crisp, it's sweet, it's crunchy.

00:42:37.040 That's what the fruit of the Spirit is much more likened to

00:42:39.880 than the former analogy of nine different fruits.

00:42:42.980 No, it's one fruit because it's one spirit without body, parts, and passions, who is indivisible.

00:42:49.780 So it's one fruit, namely one God, one spirit, who has multiple characteristics.

00:42:56.960 So if someone has a spirit of God, what are the characteristics of the spirit of God?

00:43:01.560 He's loving.

00:43:02.840 He's joyful.

00:43:04.580 He's gentle.

00:43:05.360 I say all that to say there's only one person in his earthly human life here on earth who embodied

00:43:11.480 the fullness without measure the spirit without measure is what the scripture says and therefore

00:43:16.900 had the fruit the manifestations the visible expressions of the spirit without measure

00:43:21.580 Jesus Christ Jesus Christ in his earthly ministry had the spirit without measure and therefore

00:43:28.000 had the manifestations the visible signs of the spirit without measure which means all this

00:43:33.440 theology platform to make this argument which means there was never a moment in the life of

00:43:39.260 Jesus Christ here on earth where he was not embodying and displaying for us manifesting

00:43:45.340 gentleness in its fullness everything he said everything he did was a perfect embodiment a

00:43:53.840 perfect example that we should emulate of love joy peace all of them including gentleness which

00:44:01.340 means in John chapter two, when Jesus makes a whip and begins to beat people and throw over

00:44:06.140 their tables and tell them to get the hell out of God's house. When that happens, when Jesus does

00:44:11.380 that, he is setting for us an example of what it means to be gentle. That's gentleness. That's

00:44:18.720 what it looks like to be gentle in that context with those people, with that sin. So that doesn't

00:44:26.260 mean we build a whip and, and, and that's what we bring to a funeral, right? Jesus didn't bring

00:44:30.700 his whip with him to Lazarus tomb. People are weeping, Jesus weeps. But when people are

00:44:36.600 desecrating the house of God, Jesus gets mad. And it's not like he had gentleness, pulled that out

00:44:41.860 of his toolkit in this instance, and then put gentleness away and pulled out courage in this

00:44:46.700 other instance. That is bad theology. So I just want to, Christian myth busters, I want to go

00:44:51.180 ahead and bust that myth right now once and for all for all of us to understand. So all that being 0.97

00:44:57.020 said, John Piper, he says this, if no shepherd kings were ever surrounded by bloodthirsty mobs,

00:45:03.340 if no missionaries were ever beheaded, if no pastors were ever hated and driven from their

00:45:07.540 churches, if no nations ever tottered on the brink of oppression, if no daughters were ever drowned

00:45:12.880 at sea, then the songbook of the Bible and the hymne of the church would be very thin and the

00:45:19.000 singing of the church would not be capable of reaching to the bottom of the hearts of men.

00:45:24.320 Charles Spurgeon, same kind of concept, same principle.

00:45:27.140 He says, the music of the sanctuary is in no small degree indebted to the trials of the saints.

00:45:34.280 And so I say all that to say, David's house is surrounded by men driven mad.

00:45:40.740 Not just deceived, but willingly handing themselves over to madness.

00:45:45.380 Bloodthirsty men who they thrive on oppressing the righteous.

00:45:51.080 They thrive on exacting tyranny.

00:45:54.320 And these kinds of instances, these moments in the life of the Christian, this is the source of inspiration that writes for us the types of psalms, the types of hymns that ultimately plumb to the furthest depths of the human soul, that actually reach down into tragedy, that reach down into depression, that reach down into despair. 0.90

00:46:18.100 And so God in his providence, God in his sovereignty, he allows the righteous to be afflicted

00:46:22.340 so that we might search the full depths of the human soul and know that at the bottom of the

00:46:27.940 ninth, at the bottom of the barrel, when everything seems to be lost, that God, our God, is our

00:46:34.200 strength. And as David says in the end of this psalm, our mighty fortress, our mighty fortress.

00:46:41.360 In Psalm 59, verse 16 through 17,

00:46:44.320 David sings praises to the God of might and mercy.

00:46:47.640 This is the final point I want to make.

00:46:49.800 He says this,

00:46:50.800 But I will sing of your strength.

00:46:52.460 I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.

00:46:55.720 For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.

00:46:59.640 Oh, my strength.

00:47:00.600 Notice, this is not exact, not verbatim,

00:47:03.620 but this is a repetition of what he's already said.

00:47:06.240 So he's already said,

00:47:07.600 You've been a fortress, but I will sing of your strength.

00:47:10.320 now he says oh my strength he's saying strength is your name notice it's capitalized there so

00:47:16.100 instead of oh my god he says oh my strength meaning my god whose name is strength so he says

00:47:21.700 oh my strength i will sing praises to you for you oh god are my fortress the god who shows me here

00:47:27.200 he goes he repeats again steadfast love david says the same thing twice he praises god for his

00:47:33.640 strength that is God's might his power and he praises God for his steadfast love that is God's

00:47:40.960 mercy the might and mercy of God have come together in order to form a fortress for David

00:47:49.020 I believe verses 16 and 17 if there's nothing else that they say it's this

00:47:53.980 David says God be to me a fortress be to me a strong tower be to me a rock where I can hide

00:48:03.400 myself from my enemies. Be to me a shelter. And if you will, visualize for a moment a shelter that's

00:48:10.420 an A-frame, if you will. There are two sides of the roof. And David, it's as though he's saying

00:48:16.700 this, you are a strong shelter to me. You guard me. You keep me safe. And these two sides of the

00:48:23.400 roof, this A-frame shelter that you have developed, that you are being for me, the two sides of the

00:48:28.260 roof, if they had a name, it would be might on the one hand and mercy on the other. It is the might

00:48:34.520 and the mercy of God that provides for us, that becomes for us a shelter, a fortress, a hiding

00:48:42.040 place in times of trouble. Why is the final question? Why particularly is the might of God

00:48:50.040 and the mercy of God required to protect the people of God? I'll tell you why. God in his might,

00:48:57.400 He must, in order to protect us, in order to be able to protect us from bloodthirsty...

00:49:03.260 Remember, the enemy is not described as puny.

00:49:07.020 They're described as bloodthirsty dogs surrounding the house of David.

00:49:11.460 They're armed to the teeth.

00:49:13.180 He doesn't stand a chance.

00:49:14.840 David is on the run, one, because he honors the office of the king that God had anointed Saul.

00:49:19.860 And he doesn't want to defy that.

00:49:21.640 But two, David's on the run because he does not possess the resources, the ability to mount up an opposition that would stand a chance.

00:49:30.520 So David's on the run because his enemies are stronger than him.

00:49:33.500 Therefore, in order for God to be our shelter, because our enemies are bloodthirsty men,

00:49:38.420 and because our enemies often, they often fill places of power and influence,

00:49:43.960 because this is the case, because the enemies of God are the ones who right now have power over virtually every institution in our culture,

00:49:51.640 in our nation because that is true because they have might the only way we can be spared the only

00:49:57.860 way that God can be to us a fortress a refuge is if God has even greater might so on the one hand

00:50:04.460 for God to be our fortress for him to be our refuge he must have might because our enemies

00:50:09.840 are not puny our enemies are strong they're strong and they and they have no reservations

00:50:15.380 about doing heinous and wicked things towards the righteous.

00:50:19.180 But our God is stronger.

00:50:21.120 And in comparison to us, our enemy is strong.

00:50:24.020 But in comparison with God, they're puny.

00:50:27.140 He holds them in derision.

00:50:28.360 He sits in the heavens and mocks.

00:50:30.200 He laughs.

00:50:32.020 God laughs.

00:50:32.860 So they're weak compared to him.

00:50:34.400 But we need to be humble.

00:50:35.360 Remember, they're strong compared to us.

00:50:37.060 It doesn't look good right now.

00:50:39.000 It didn't look good for David.

00:50:40.400 And it doesn't look great for us.

00:50:42.260 I'd say we're in a better situation than David was.

00:50:44.700 But it still doesn't look great for us.

00:50:46.660 Our enemies are not puning.

00:50:48.160 Our enemies have authority.

00:50:49.400 They have influence.

00:50:50.700 They have power.

00:50:52.940 Right?

00:50:53.180 But I mean, having big tech basically be a government faction is a lot of power.

00:50:59.020 You can do a lot of stuff if you own YouTube and Instagram and Twitter and Facebook.

00:51:04.500 That's the situation we're in right now.

00:51:05.880 That's big.

00:51:06.380 And then you throw in there Hollywood and every single movie your children are going to be watching.

00:51:09.940 And then the entire school system.

00:51:11.500 and then you add to that the white house and everything else,

00:51:14.940 then yeah, that's not a great situation.

00:51:17.920 I think David's situation was worse, but we're not far from it.

00:51:20.760 It feels like bloodthirsty men have surrounded our house.

00:51:23.980 That's what it looks like.

00:51:25.040 Wild dogs, they're not puny.

00:51:26.760 We need to be humbled, church.

00:51:28.520 Little flock, that's what John, he writes to the church, he says,

00:51:30.600 little flock, Jesus said, like sheep sent out among wolves.

00:51:35.020 So we need to have, you know, a moment of humility.

00:51:38.240 And remember, in comparison to us, they're not puny.

00:51:42.620 In comparison to God, they are.

00:51:44.920 So God, on the one hand, in order to be our salvation, our deliverance, our fortress, he must have might.

00:51:51.040 Here's the final piece.

00:51:53.180 He also must be merciful.

00:51:55.540 The might of God is completely, well, I was going to say it's completely irrelevant if not for his mercy.

00:52:02.400 But that's not true.

00:52:03.580 It's not irrelevant.

00:52:04.300 The might of God is our terror and our doom.

00:52:08.240 if he's not merciful.

00:52:10.140 If this God who is omnipotent, all-powerful,

00:52:13.240 is not also omnibenevolent, all-loving,

00:52:16.260 then he's our doom.

00:52:18.880 And see, this is one of the most beautiful things.

00:52:21.540 All right, so Sigmund Freud,

00:52:23.360 one of the arguments that he made towards atheism,

00:52:25.720 against theism, against the existence of a God,

00:52:28.000 is he said God was just the creation

00:52:31.360 of the imagination of primitive men.

00:52:33.780 So primitive men, there were certain things

00:52:35.280 that they could not explain with science, right?

00:52:38.240 they couldn't explain these things so like a storm for instance so Sigmund Freud his his whole

00:52:44.180 argument was this there are certain threats that a man can reason with right so if somebody stops

00:52:49.700 you in a back alley and they're trying to rob you you may at least have the opportunity they're

00:52:54.480 holding you at gunpoint give me your wallet you may have the opportunity to say hey you can take

00:52:58.640 my wallet but please don't hurt me right what are you doing you're appealing or you know there's

00:53:03.240 even training you know for if you're ever in this kind of situation say your name because

00:53:07.440 it helps the victimizer to have to be forced to recognize your identity, your humanity. It

00:53:13.980 humanizes you, right? It makes it more difficult for them to inflict harm upon you. Meaning this,

00:53:19.160 there are certain threats in life that there is some sense of either compassion or some sense of

00:53:25.040 reason that we can appeal to. But there are other threats in life like a hurricane. You can't reason

00:53:30.920 with a hurricane. And so Sigmund Freud, his argument, whether it be a hurricane or a plague,

00:53:36.060 He argued that primitive people with lots of death, right,

00:53:40.000 without modern medicine and these kinds of things, 0.89

00:53:41.420 with plagues, with storms, with all these kinds of things,

00:53:43.540 with lots of dangers, lots of threats,

00:53:45.540 and many of these threats not being personified,

00:53:50.480 many of them being inanimate, like a storm or like a disease.

00:53:53.720 There was no reason to appeal to,

00:53:56.040 no personhood, no compassion that they could play against.

00:54:00.140 And so what they needed was,

00:54:03.040 they needed someone who had power over the storm and so they created God and so that was his

00:54:09.780 argument Sigmund Freud an atheist saying men manufactured God out of their own imagination

00:54:15.360 to help them deal with the terrors of life that could not be appealed to and this is why he's

00:54:22.400 wrong he's wrong because the disciples this is just one example there's dozens in scripture

00:54:27.720 But the disciples, when Jesus is sleeping under the boat,

00:54:32.000 and a great storm arises on the Sea of Galilee,

00:54:35.860 it says that the disciples, it says they were very afraid.

00:54:41.720 And they go and they wake Jesus and they say,

00:54:44.000 Master, Master, do you not care?

00:54:45.600 Teacher, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?

00:54:48.220 And Jesus awakes and it says he rebukes the wind and the waves.

00:54:51.800 He tells them to be still and to be silent.

00:54:55.080 And they cease.

00:54:55.880 and then it says the disciples response is this who is this who has authority to command even the

00:55:01.840 wind and waves and then they were exceedingly afraid see the reason why sigmund freud is wrong

00:55:09.660 when it comes to the christian god is because the disciples look at the storm that threat

00:55:14.180 that impending doom and they're afraid but then they look at jesus who has authority over the

00:55:20.320 storm and they become even more afraid, exceedingly afraid. So the Christian God is not the author of 0.88

00:55:26.920 sugar and spice and everything nice. He's not the Jewish version of Mr. Rogers. He is the thrice 0.92

00:55:32.620 holy God who commands in his right hand power over stars and galaxies and the cosmos. He is

00:55:40.120 the God of might. And the only reason, the only reason the existence of a God like this is a

00:55:47.060 comfort to sinners like you and me is because the God of might is also the God of mercy.

00:55:54.040 He keeps steadfast love. Notice David, he doesn't use the word mercy, but it means mercy.

00:55:59.340 He uses the word steadfast love. I think that's one of the best definitions of mercy

00:56:03.340 because steadfast love means what? A love that continues. What's the implication? A love that

00:56:09.540 continues when your faithfulness doesn't. When your obedience doesn't continue, his steadfast

00:56:16.400 love does when your obedience when your faithfulness when your righteousness when your

00:56:20.940 allegiance to him does not remain steadfast it does not continue you falter you fail his love

00:56:28.300 remains steadfast he does not deny us for he will not deny himself even when we're faithless he

00:56:36.760 remains faithful for he cannot deny himself it is the steadfast love of god meaning what it's the

00:56:42.200 love of God that continues even when the obedience of man fails. I'll say it again. The steadfast love

00:56:48.360 of God, the covenantal, we might say, love of God is a love of God that continues even when the

00:56:54.920 obedience and faithfulness of men fail. What better word to describe that than mercy? So it is the

00:57:01.480 power of God and the steadfast continuing love of God, even in the midst of human weakness, aka the

00:57:07.700 mercy of God the might and mercy of God like two sides of the roof of the shelter that become for

00:57:13.720 David a fortress and that fortress is a mighty fortress and it is available for all those who

00:57:19.600 hope in Christ today put your hope in Jesus will we overcome yes will we overcome in the next 10

00:57:26.300 years I don't know that's not promised but the church will overcome I will build my church and

00:57:31.640 the gates of hell will not will not prevail against it remember church that language the

00:57:37.340 gates of hell the gates are a defensive weapon the church is not on the ropes getting pummeled

00:57:42.820 by hell but hell and all of its offense ultimately will not prevail because the church the church

00:57:48.620 jesus will hold it up and it ultimately will not fall no it's reversed the gates of hell describe

00:57:54.440 that hell is on the defense and jesus says i will build not just i not just survive not just

00:58:00.220 sustain my church. No, I will build it. It will advance. It will grow. So the church is growing.

00:58:05.820 It's expanding. It's on the offense. Jesus says, my church is on the offense. My church is

00:58:10.380 wailing on hell. Hell is in the corner. Hell is on the ropes and hell won't be able, 0.93

00:58:17.500 its defense, its gates will not be able ultimately in the final day to withstand the battering ram

00:58:24.680 of the church that's being hoisted by christ himself who is the head of the church so we win

00:58:30.780 and it's not just we went a lot of christians think that we win because we lose but then christ

00:58:36.080 comes in in the bottom of the ninth and as a pinch hitter and make so it's like the team is

00:58:40.260 just going to get slaughtered but then christ comes in at the very end and hits you know a

00:58:44.540 grand slam and we end up winning no no christ wins it's his glory but the question is how christ

00:58:50.300 wins, the pre-mill thinks

00:58:52.460 Christ wins despite the church

00:58:53.940 to the benefit of the church.

00:58:56.080 The post-mill thinks Christ wins 0.84

00:58:58.120 through his church. 0.99

00:59:00.320 That's our belief. So it's still Christ.

00:59:02.480 It's still his glory. But is Christ

00:59:04.300 going to win despite the church sucking? 0.99

00:59:06.660 Or is Christ going to win 0.93

00:59:08.100 through the church?

00:59:10.280 Is Christ's weapon that he wields

00:59:12.340 to overcome the enemies of darkness

00:59:13.940 the battering ram of the church itself?

00:59:16.580 I believe that's the language of Scripture.

00:59:18.660 So we will win, and

00:59:20.220 not just Christ winning for us but Christ winning through us and there is a difference and we will

00:59:25.500 win the question is when will we win we're not promised that America will win America could fall

00:59:32.480 and the church still thrive so America may not win and if we win even the church winning the

00:59:38.620 church may not win in the next 10 years just like Gideon's army it was whittled down first

00:59:45.120 and then a great victory.

00:59:47.340 So even the church may seemingly shrink

00:59:49.940 with God's providential pruning.

00:59:52.400 America is not promised to win 0.91

00:59:53.740 and the church is promised to win,

00:59:55.960 but we don't know when we're going to win.

00:59:57.700 And it may look like subtraction first before addition,

01:00:01.660 but we do win.

01:00:02.880 We do win.

01:00:04.100 And for all those who hope in Christ,

01:00:06.100 even with bloodthirsty dogs that surround us

01:00:08.800 that hate Christ, hate his rule,

01:00:11.220 hate his kingship, hate his glory,

01:00:13.460 even in a situation like that,

01:00:15.380 God is our fortress.

01:00:17.660 Little flock, have no fear.

01:00:19.880 How many times does the Bible say again and again,

01:00:22.140 don't be afraid, don't be afraid.

01:00:23.840 Have no fear.

01:00:24.800 He is our fortress and he is sufficient for the task

01:00:27.860 because he is mighty and merciful.

01:00:31.160 Let's pray.

01:00:32.100 Father God, thank you for your word.

01:00:33.740 Thank you for Jesus Christ, your son.

01:00:35.920 Thank you that you are our fortress,

01:00:37.480 our strong tower, our defense, our shelter, our protection.

01:00:41.920 Thank you for your power and your might.

01:00:44.780 But Lord, we thank you.

01:00:46.220 We shudder at your might.

01:00:48.700 And we remember and take heart because of your mercy.

01:00:52.840 It's almost like a small child seeing his dad for the first time,

01:00:57.020 lifting some heavy object and feeling a sense of fear.

01:01:00.220 I never knew my dad who's so gentle and tender towards me.

01:01:03.360 I never realized he was so strong.

01:01:06.200 But I'm shuddering in one sense, but at the same time I'm not afraid

01:01:10.000 because the one that I'm witnessing right now,

01:01:12.680 such a feat of strength, is also my daddy.

01:01:16.800 So the one who is so strong,

01:01:18.640 all of that strength is being channeled for me

01:01:21.460 because the one who is strong is the one who is for me.

01:01:24.900 If God is for us, who can be against us?

01:01:28.320 Lord, help us to trust in you

01:01:29.780 and to be strong and courageous,

01:01:33.060 not boasting in the flesh,

01:01:34.700 but boasting in our mighty and merciful God.

01:01:37.640 We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

01:01:40.000 Oh, hi. I didn't see you there. Thanks for sticking around. I've got an important announcement

01:01:45.180 to make. That's the Theonomy and Postmillennialism Conference. 2023, May 5th, 6th, and 7th,

01:01:52.560 Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Theonomy and Postmillennialism. We've got the speakers that

01:01:57.740 we've already had lined up. That's Dr. James White, Dr. Joseph Boot, Dr. Gary DeMar, non-doctor

01:02:03.120 Pastor Joel Webin, but we also have a bonus speaker, and that is Dale Partridge from Real

01:02:08.600 Christianity. Perhaps you've heard of him. If not, you should start listening to his podcast.

01:02:12.780 It's fantastic. Dale Partridge is going to be joining our team. We're going to have live panels

01:02:18.060 on Friday night and Saturday night where you'll be able to write in questions and get them answered.

01:02:22.860 We're also going to have a catered barbecue, Texas-style barbecue meal on Friday that's a

01:02:28.240 part of your registration fee. All that is covered, so you need to get there. This is how you do it.

01:02:33.200 Go and register right now at rightresponseconference.com.

01:02:37.960 Again, that's rightresponseconference.com.

01:02:41.720 God bless.

The NXR Podcast - December 11, 2022

SUNDAY SERMON - Surrounded By Bloodthirsty Men ｜ Psalm 59

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