[0:00] your Bible, so if you're not sure where it is, it's the biggest book of the Bible, 150 chapters, and typically if you just open your Bible to the middle, you'll find Psalms and then find 13.
[0:11] I trust you can add and subtract and find 13. It's right after 12, before 14, if that helps at all. We are going to, for the next few weeks, look at the Psalms.
[0:28] We're not going through all the Psalms, obviously, I've picked out a few. I've picked out four songs of lament or affliction. I think that's relevant for our times where we wonder how long God is going to do what He's doing or not do what He's doing or kind of answer our questions of what's going on.
[0:52] Where is God in times of trouble? Where is God in times of pandemic? Where is God in times of racial division and political tension and all the distress we're coming across today?
[1:08] And so how do we pray to God during these times? And so we're going to look at four examples, four very relevant Psalms of lament and affliction. Here we're at 13. Next week, 10.
[1:19] Week after that, 42 and 43, and then 25. Different kinds of lament, different kinds of affliction. And then we'll answer that with four more Psalms of hope.
[1:33] Four more Psalms that I think kind of answer the affliction Psalms. So we'll look at 40, 37, 19, and 103. And then we'll top it all off with the icing on the cape with Psalm 110, which is the Psalm of Jesus sitting on His throne.
[1:54] Sit at my right hand. And He not only is a king, but He's also a priest. And so what is Jesus doing now during these times?
[2:04] And so that will be a nice, I think, kind of cycle through with Psalm 110. And what do we see Jesus doing right now? Because He's fulfilling Psalm 110.
[2:17] Okay, so today we're looking at Psalm 13. Nice shorty. It's only six verses. Very simple. Very... So it should only be about a six-minute sermon, right?
[2:34] Yeah, we'll see. But it doesn't mean it doesn't have depth. It's simple. Well, it's short and simple, but not superficial.
[2:51] So let's read it, and we'll pray that God will give us insight, and then we'll dig in. So if you're able, please stand as I read from Psalm 13.
[3:08] To the choir master, a psalm of David. How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever?
[3:21] How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
[3:34] How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God.
[3:48] Light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. Lest my enemy say, I have prevailed over him.
[4:01] And my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love.
[4:15] My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord. Because he has dealt bountifully with me.
[4:32] See law. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for this psalm that expresses much frustration.
[4:45] Much misunderstanding. It is very, very honest. And you know, Father, we can relate, I think, to this.
[5:03] And so teach us, Father, how to pray to you during times when we feel honestly like you are withdrawn. When it seems like you have forgotten.
[5:16] Or that you have turned away. So teach us to pray like this in uncertain times.
[5:31] This we pray and ask in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. So it's a new year.
[5:47] Woo. Right? We're done. 2020's over. It's all behind us. Right? This will be a better year, won't it?
[6:02] I hear grumblings and disagreement. How can that be? Will this year bring an end to the epidemic?
[6:17] I hope so. Will it bring hope to the racial tensions? I hope so. Will it bring some resolution to political tensions?
[6:33] Now that we have a new president. Don't laugh. I hope so. I'm laughing at her. Oh, okay. You're also pessimistic.
[6:48] I understand. I understand. Will jobs return? Will those who are lonely in places be able to see people again?
[7:10] Will the church be able to gather in full again? Well, we hope all those things. Well, we hope all those things.
[7:23] We want all those things. but the first day of the year I listened to the newscast and it was no more hopeful than the last day of last year in fact it seemed to nah it's going to get worse well so what if it does what if our hopes are not fulfilled for this year it's kind of like making a new year's resolution right two weeks later no no no no these are real things these are real important things that we want and wish and hope what if not so as people who trust in the Lord we have a bigger question what is the Lord doing during times of distress has he withdrawn from us has he given us I mean Americans what we deserve has he turned his back and say
[8:44] I'm not saying that I'm just asking the question what's going on things have gotten worse is God judging us I mean as a people not as Christians what we do know is the Lord always has a purpose always has a plan it's always plan a he doesn't have to audible and he is always on his throne when Jesus ascended into heaven he sat down at the right hand of the Father and he has begun and he began to rule and he continues to rule so that's certain but how is he ruling what decisions is he making well we can see some of the decisions we just don't know how far they're gonna go so it's in times like this of uncertainty of affliction of tension of unanswered problems that we feel these cries of lament how long oh Lord and it's not simply the broad picture where we cry how long with this epidemic or this racial tension or the political unrest or the the jobs it also gets more personal because all those things affect us personally so how long do I suffer under this how long do I take negative impact from this right how long what do we do as a church how do we do things as a church when we can't even gather in full we've had to postpone one of our funnest times of the year
[11:07] I was gonna say Christmas thanksmas I love that but we had to postpone it we needed the laugh so when you get a lot of no's and you get a lot of wait and you get a lot of maybes not a lot of hope how do we hang in there how long oh lord it's the cry that Job cried it's the cry that David cries it's the cry that Jeremiah cried every day of his life he was not a happy camper he wrote the book Lamentations that'll tell you how he felt no rose garden for Jeremiah and we all go through this we all feel these times of affliction we all we feel these times when God seems silent when God seems to have forsaken us when God seems to have hidden his face now we know because Jesus promised
[12:24] I will never leave you or forsake you we know he's not but it feels like it I don't feel his presence I don't see blessing so we cry that out this is David's cry it's simple short true it's also extremely honest it's also desperate and anxious this is not perfect faith this is messy faith this is what real faith looks like in the real world he's in distress he even feels like he may die lest I sleep the sleep of death he may die he he is he has enemies we don't know he does not tell us the background he does not tell us the timing we don't know if this was early in his life we don't know if it was later in his life we don't know who the enemies are the enemies early in his life were people like
[13:41] Saul and the Philistines the enemies later in his life were his sons so we don't know he doesn't say that he just says enemies foes and it seems like they're treating him unjustly so probably earlier in his life because I think later in his life he's reaping a little bit what he sowed so so this is a psalm that gives the protest of lament and despair there's a whole bunch of psalms that are categorized as lament lamentations sad songs songs of distress where there's nowhere now to turn in my distress in my despair in my anxiety but to God that the causes of this lament could be soul trouble like psalm 42 my soul is in deep despair there why
[14:46] I don't know well I can guess but it's so deep it could be enemies that are attacking it could be God himself frustrating me so there are different causes for lament it's not all one thing it could be an individual lament it could be a community lament here we have a personal one in psalm 13 psalm 10 why oh god do you hide yourself in trouble psalm 42 why oh soul are you down cast and god have you forgotten me psalm 22 perhaps the most famous of the laments the one that jesus himself quoted on the cross my god my god why have you forsaken me why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning so even jesus voices these psalms even jesus felt forsaken!
[15:59] of god so what we learn is that it is not a sinful feeling it is not a sinful expression to say to god why have you forsaken me because our mind says oh theologically that's not correct I know because okay we're talking about emotion we're talking about how i feel we're talking about the soul and the soul needs to say what it has to say to god that's where he needs to say that's the key the soul says it just to me no help no help no help so i'm gonna go yeah soul i'm with you man i know how bad it is yeah yeah let's go have ice cream james gave me that one so i just talk to my soul i'm not going to help anybody or listen to my soul so here psalm 13 has three parts very simple verses one and two is the complaint he begins with a complaint why have you forgotten me where are you god he protests god's delay how long how long and then verses three and four comes a second part and he turns to a desperate plea these are not confident prayers in verses three and four but they are prayers have still anxiety attached to them there's a bit of desperateness see if you don't give me light
[17:38] I will die if you don't answer me my enemies will shout I win desperate it's not real confident yet the prayers still prayer but there's some desperateness in it see and then you get to verses five and six and the whole tone changes from complaint to desperate prayer to all of a sudden I trust I trust I will sing I will rejoice All good!
[18:14] Sorry I bothered you! You know all good! It's almost like what? Am I missing a verse? How does he go from there to there?
[18:26] How does he have sorrow in his heart and then his heart is going to rejoice? How is he going to go from enemies enemies enemies to no enemies salvation and joy and Lord and we're all good how does he do that?
[18:45] Am I missing something? There's a secret in there I don't think it's there we just have to ponder a little bit how do we pray in times of distress times when God seems to have forsaken us God seems withdrawn God seems not to hear my prayers I'm praying but I'm not he's answering my like that the 12 years in depression he was answering my prayers for other people what about me where is he you're a problem boy that's what I think so here's David's prayer and fascinatingly what does he ask for verse three consider answer light up my eyes he asked for light isn't that interesting he prays for light in his darkness okay well let's look at this how is
[20:11] David been handling times when God seems far away when God seems to have forgotten when it all seems to be going down hill with no hope in sight so I think we can break this down into two general responses that David has first of all he pours out his soul he vents and he casts it on the Lord there's desperation in there there is some faith there is some dependence because it's like you got to answer me but it's still it's more pouring out his soul casting it upon the Lord and then we see in verses 5 and 6 all sudden there's settled faith there's confident faith so response it begins with how long then it gets to a little bit more okay please help and then hey so let's look at this let's break it down so verses 1 through 4 we have this first response it is prayer notice all of this is directed to the
[21:24] Lord he says how long will you oh Lord forget me how long will you hide your face so it's directed to the Lord so it's prayer but it's a different kind of prayer because it's a complaining prayer so let's call this first response venting your complaint to the Lord you can call it a lot of different things you can call it pouring out your soul casting your burden upon the Lord vent your complaint I like to say it this way vent your complaint to the Lord casting it upon him there's two parts there there's there's the venting there's the how long how!
[22:04] and then! there's help and if you don't help and then there's the next response which is resolution faith and joy so note the process first in verse 1 and 2 he's in darkness he's just saying he's just venting this complaint then in verse 3 there's a little desperation to it there's this plea of desperation and then we see in verse 4 there is a hint of dependence because he's calling upon the Lord and if the Lord doesn't act then this is what will happen but it's still an anxious dependence so darkness to desperation to dependence we'll call anxious dependence so there's a process so look at the darkness first verses 1 and 2 4 times he says how long how long will you forget me how long will you forget me now he doesn't mean that
[23:11] God has blotted him out of his memory he doesn't mean forget like we think of forget like oh I just forgot about you I forgot to pick you up sorry it's not like the Lord does that when he talks about forgetting and remembering when the Lord remembers Noah remember got the flood right you got all this time passing and then all of a sudden the story changes and says God remembered Noah it's like oh yeah I left him in the boat out there right it's like no no no that's not what it means it means okay now I'm going to act he's remembering in the sense of okay now I'm going to act in a benevolent way so forgetting is like oh he's just withdrawn it's not that he's forgotten but he's kind of turned away that's why he adds to it why have you hidden your face it's more like your face is toward us and that's good then when your face turns away it's like no that's not good like you're absent like you've rejected and then notice in 42 he brings it more personally two more how long how long first of all must
[24:25] I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart so there's an internal battle going on so while it feels like God's forgotten and hidden his face now I'm taking counsel in my soul that's not a good thing to do by the way to take counsel in your soul because remember who the soul is soul is kind of flighty kind of wants candy wants good stuff wants the shortcut so I take counsel with my soul what do you think soul man it's bad yeah okay not a real uplift the soul also can be a great aspiration to worship the soul is about affection I can have affection toward God and I can have deep depression my soul can just can go all over that's why Jesus said don't love your soul in this world if you love your soul and you listen to your soul it's gonna go bad you have to hate your soul you have to train your soul you have to talk to your soul not listen okay and that's sorrow in my heart how long because
[25:39] I'm taking counsel with my soul because I can't hear you so who am I! listen to I listen and that's really no help and then finally how long there's an exterior battle as well internal and then an external the end of verse two how long shall my enemy be exalted over me you know times like this where it feels like it just feels like God's not here like he's withdrawn his blessing or maybe just feel that personally like I'm just going through this barrenness and dry time and I don't feel his hand on me how long yes he takes us through trials so that we can get stronger become mature and have endurance and all that but he's got a little too much faith in me you know it's a little long for me
[26:49] I don't think I'm doing well it's supposed to make me better it's making me bitter and then my enemies who's my enemies now for David I don't know but for us who's our enemy who's our enemy it's not people Satan he is the enemy of our soul he seeks to devour he seeks to deceive he seeks to keep you in the dark he loves it when you complain don't have to worry about you until you start complaining to God if you're just complaining to others and yourself then go for it you're good talk to your soul some more that's good but here's a time where it appears like the enemy is winning if you have times in your spiritual life like that where it feels like the devil is winning like
[28:01] I'm fighting temptation but I'm not winning why come I don't want to but it seems! I'm losing more than I'm winning it seems like he's winning it seems like he's exalting over me I'm supposed to exalt over him where's my victory seems like God's not there it's not as if I'm not saying help it's not as if I stopped believing yeah if I get real analytical about it's like okay I'm not you know okay I haven't read for a while yeah okay okay but still still I have the Holy Spirit right so this turns then excuse me this turns of darkness to it turns to a plea of desperation so verse three and four now he he he's complained now he calls on the
[29:14] Lord three two quick prayers consider and answer me oh Lord my God consider literally look look it's like he's hidden his face is hidden right he's so he's saying turn back and look at me look see me Lord and answer answer respond let me hear stop forgetting and remember me so just too quick look and answer then at the end of verse three comes to his real prayer that has some he's just trying to get God's attention first now now it's here's what I want here's what I want light up my eyes literally what David said was cause to shine upon my eyes
[30:16] I don't know if I like the phrase light up my eyes I don't know what that means cause to shine upon my eyes give me light why because I'm in dark you seem gone you seem absent I can't see I can't see God I can't see good I'm in the dark supposed to be walking in the light I can't see any light so cause light to shine light on my eyes there's something there I didn't have time to look at look at it our Sunday school class kind of started to delve into that the eye thing you know Jesus talks about the eyes though right the lamp of the body right whatever comes in so that there may be more insight there if you want to follow that but he says cause light upon my eyes shine light into my darkness give me illumination give me some insight you know talks about the word is a lamp to my path right light so I know where to go so what is light you know he's asking for light he's not asking for salvation he's not asking for deliverance from his enemies he's not asking for revival of his soul he's asking for light why
[31:43] I'd be asking for the other selfish stuff maybe it's not selfish light he knows something he knows something about light give me light so I can see I'm in darkness I want to see I want to understand I want to know where I'm going I'll need light help me see what is true because there's things that appear to be going on it appears like God is hidden it appears that God is forgotten there's a lot of things that the enemy wants me to see oh yeah yeah see God's not with you see see see see so give me light so I can actually see what's really going on help me see that Jesus is right on his throne just like he always is help me see that you have not forsaken me because
[32:50] I know you promise you won't help me see that you will bring good out of this because you say you will always bring good out of stuff and then there's some anxious dependence here at the end of verse 3 and 4 he has these lest consider answer oh lord my god light up my eyes why lest I sleep to sleep of death wow is that what he means does he really feel like he's on the verge of death maybe he's disturbed like Jesus said where remember Jesus talked about I'm sorry this sorrow may be to death I don't know so so there's a little desperate desperateness a little anxiousness so give me light lest
[33:53] I sleep to sleep of death lest my enemies say I prevailed lest my foes rejoice because I've been shaken in other words if you don't give me light I will die if you don't help me my enemy will prevail and shatter me again who's the enemy have you ever prayed to the Lord about your enemy of the soul like this don't let him win Lord don't let him have any joy over me wait till psalm 10 we're going to get to some other stuff some other ways to pray against the devil don't let him flaunt don't let him have any joy so
[34:54] I want you to see that what David is doing here is the same thing that Jesus does later how he handles distress right before the cross Jesus experienced distress distress I'm not talking about the garden of Gethsemane I'm talking about even before that kind of a pre Gethsemane couple of days before John chapter 12 Jesus experienced distress in his soul how did he handle it it's very instructive John 12 23 Jesus is talking about his hour has come he says the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified truly truly I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains alone but if it dies if that seed gets buried right the seed is dying the grain of wheat goes into the soil talking about gardening here right agriculture so there's got to be death before there's life
[35:57] God has built that into creation so bury the seed unless the grain of wheat goes into the earth and dies it remains alone but if it dies it bears forth fruit then he says whoever loves his life literally his soul loses it and whoever hates his soul in this world will keep it for eternal life why because your soul doesn't want to die soul doesn't want that burial!
[36:30] burial stuff doesn't want that trial stuff if anyone serves me he must follow me in other words you walk the same road I do or I die and where I am there will my servant be also if anyone serves me the father will honor him this is the road to walk and then Jesus says it's like he's all good right he's ready to go to the cross right here it is I'm ready to go this is what must happen and then he says now is my soul troubled agitated distressed anguish same word as in the garden of Gethsemane where he's sweating drops of blood right or he doesn't want to go to the cross take this take this cup same thing now is my soul troubled he says that out loud who's he talking to what shall
[37:37] I say what do I do with this then he prays father save me from this hour sounds just like let this cup pass let this cup pass let this cup pass remember how many times Jesus prayed that prayer three times save me from this hour let this cup pass then what does he say after he says let this cup pass wait wait wait wait not not not my will not what I want what you want right here he says father save me from this hour but what wait a minute it's for this very purpose that I've come for this hour this is why I'm here on one side
[38:37] I want to be saved from it I don't want to be delivered from it I don't want to go through this trial but on the other hand oh yeah the father said will you and I said I will and I said I really will I love these people of course I'll do that but then it comes to the hour and he says I don't know if I really want to do this no I know I don't want to do this so he look at the process that he goes through what does he do first he confesses his soul trouble he pours out his soul now is my soul troubled!
[39:33] he renews his mind this is the same process that we go through over and over and over again Jesus will go through this process three more times in the garden of Gethsemane which should teach us something right Jesus who had no baggage of sin still had to pray three times in the garden to let the cup pass let the cup pass let the cup pass oh no not my will but yours not my will why didn't he resolve it the first time he's Jesus because an hour later here comes his soul again it's getting closer it's getting closer okay I gotta go pray again come back find the disciples oh a lot of help you guys are gotta go back pray good if Jesus without sin baggage has to pray three times what do you think it looks like for us
[40:39] I thought I already resolved this why do I gotta pray it again because you got a soul that wants the easy way out you got a heart that gets deceived and sorrowful this is the process so David vents his first major response is he vents his complaint he casts it upon the Lord for help what does he do next so then we see in five and six here's a transformation I have trusted in your steadfast love my heart will rejoice in your salvation I will sing to the Lord because he has!
[41:25] dealt bountifully with me see this response calling out to the Lord has enabled him to renew his faith the process is essential calling out to the Lord taking my complaint and not just taking it internally but taking my complaint and actually being honest before the Lord helps me it it good for me I get it out I verbalize it that helps me take the next step and the next step is okay help help help give me light light light light light light light light light because if you don't give me light I'm done have you ever prayed that before the Lord by the way when you are facing temptation Lord if you don't help right now
[42:26] I'm going to go sin try it I've done it because it's honest if you don't help me right now I know what I'm going to do I know what I want to do and if you don't give me some strength I don't have!
[42:43] the strength then and that's what he's saying lest I die lest my enemy wins lest the devil has victory over me and I stumble and I fall again so I want you to notice the effects of verses 1 through 4 in verse 5 we have suddenly a transformation but I trust then we have a triumph at the end of verse 5 now my heart will rejoice and then we have thanksgiving I will sing to the Lord notice the effects of having gone to the Lord having poured it out having cast upon having asked for help now comes transformation triumph and thanksgiving I want to live in verses 5 and 6
[43:45] I don't want to verses 1 and 2 now verses 1 and 2 are real that doesn't mean you don't have faith if you have verses 1 and 2 your prayer just becomes the complaint stuff as long as it's directed to the Lord it will help you so suddenly but I trust how does he change well because he's vented and he's cast it upon the Lord he's poured out his soul the first step of faith is coming taking it to the Lord crying to God and now because he has done that now he's enabled to trust now he has been fortified in his faith because he's gotten that out because he's appealed to God even though he's appealed to God in a way that's a little anxious a little desperate a little not real certain if you don't now he trusts and what does he trust in
[44:50] I have trusted in your steadfast love where did he get that how did he go from sorrow to thinking of God's love how did he go from complaining and darkness I mean when you're in that state you don't tend to think of positive things you know it's natural to think of more negative things so how does he get to God's love which saves him which resurrects him oh remember what he asked for give me light on my eyes I'll give you a little light bulb my love oh yes yes yes you have loved me and yeah what am I doing
[45:52] I trust in your love of course now I can't get there without going through the other stuff okay I can't just I can't skip okay skip you know I want to skip the I want to skip the asking I just want to complain and then get right to the faith no sorry there's a process Jesus himself went through this process confession prayer renewal now he remembers God's love which has been faithful which has been abundant he's guided by his faith now this faith leads him to triumph now he says first of all I have trusted so that's it's not I will trust I have I have trust I have trusted and then notice the next two things are future I will my heart will rejoice and I will sing I'm not there yet but I know my heart will rejoice in your salvation when you bring the deliverance it's not here yet all
[46:58] I've got is light and I got light about his love so that will hold me for now I trust in his love and I know he will bring deliverance so I will rejoice in salvation and I will sing to the Lord I can already triumph ahead of time because I know because his love has been consistent because his love has already been manifested to me he has loved me not because I deserved it he loved me according to his mercy and his grace he does not treat me according to my sins otherwise every day would be never be a day of joy so my heart will rejoice remember the heart in verse 2 was full of sorrow now it's good now it's rejoicing and it's joy in what I will rejoice in your salvation I'm confident God will deliver now
[48:02] I don't know how folks who don't know the Lord go through their distress I just don't know it's hard enough for a believer to go through because it's hard look at David but a believer has an advantage well many advantages but there's one salvation we've already experienced even if we haven't he hasn't delivered me from a present trial I've already been delivered from the ultimate trial I remember when first time I got cancer I'm sitting lying in the hospital bed and I'm a young kid and I'm trying to block it all out of my mind this isn't really happening blah blah blah blah and my pastor comes in and with him are about five other guys who are my associates I was working in a youth ministry this is a big church by the way big church we had a big youth ministry so there's a whole bunch of us so they all come in and they're all around the bed and
[49:10] I'm just going okay I don't know and I don't know my pastor very well it's big church he calls me fella how you doing fella I'm good fella so no no big church I'll never forget what he said I don't remember anything else he said when he came in he said you know we're sitting in a hospital waiting for good news waiting for good news he says Bill you got my name right I guess you've already heard the good news you've already heard the good news you've already heard the good news that Jesus has taken away your sin that you have a relationship with God that you're safe then he made us all quote verses going around I'm like okay
[50:10] I gotta come up with something I'm like 20 I don't know why Jesus swept no that doesn't you like okay thanks pastor put me on the spot here I'm supposed to be spiritual here but I've never forgotten that waiting for good news you got the good news and that doesn't wash away what I was going through but it gave me perspective it's like yeah I have an advantage even if this goes bad I'm gonna be okay have you heard that good news do you know that good news have you experienced that good news I know a lot of you have look in the camera I hope you know that good news then he goes to thanksgiving I will sing to the Lord notice I will sing to the Lord it's not just I will sing I will sing to the
[51:12] Lord I will dress my praise and my thanks and my songs to him I'm going to sing to Jesus by the way the way we apply the Psalms and how we sing the Psalms to is we sing these Psalms!
[51:25] Jesus that's who you sing this to he's the Lord he is the Lord that's what the father wants you to do that's what the spirit wants you to do he's the worthy one he's the one who has come as a lamb been reading revelation lately he's the one who has come he is the one who has overcome he is the one who has conquered he's worthy sing to him Revelation 4 you got all this praise going to the father to the father to father chapter 5 is like no goes to the son not that you don't!
[52:05] ! in fact what he has done should cause this joy and this thankfulness this blessing that just pour out I will sing to Lord why because he has dealt bountifully with me he's dealt with me according to his mercy not according to my sins so trust I have trusted how do we trust God in distressful times what does that look like what is trust I have trusted that's a good Bible word what's it mean in real life I've trusted in him I've trusted in his salvation so let me go to kind of primary Bible verses these have been my in fact these are the verses that I said to my pastor in that hospital bed these are the verses that came to my mind proverbs 3 5 through 8 trust in the
[53:17] Lord with all your heart what does that look like do not lean on your own understanding! in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight do not be wise in your own eyes fear the Lord and turn away from evil and this is the part that I wanted on that hospital bed and it will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones so what does trust look like to trust Jesus to trust the Lord with all your heart means to believe his word is true faithful right to not lean on your own understanding means to trust his word even when it seems like his word is not coming to life even when it seems like he's absent even though he says I will be with you even when it seems like he has hidden when it seems like everything is going wrong like this is not turning out for good this just seems to keep getting worse to not lean on my own understanding what
[54:32] I think my eyes see trust his word know him in all your ways it says in all your ways acknowledge him that's a weak translation in all your ways know!
[54:46] him know! him do you know him in all your ways every decision every choice every worry every anxiety do you know him in every way in other words do you have that relationship with him through every different path in life know him and what will happen straight straight paths I like that you want straight paths know him in everything wow cool oh there's more trusting in the Lord also means don't be wise in your own eyes which by the way means don't trust yourself you think you got to figure it out you don't got to figure it out you can't see everything you don't know!
[55:45] everything you may know a lot you may have a lot of experience but don't be wise in your own eyes because as soon as you do what will he do as soon as you climb that ladder no okay I'm good and what comes to those who trust straight paths and it will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones so let us become those who can say I have trusted in your steadfast love my heart will rejoice in your salvation I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me amen let's pray father we ask you to apply these things to our hearts help us lord to be like this psalmist who cries out honestly cries out with desperateness sometimes faith is desperate and so father help us to be real in our walk with you to be willing to say these things to you and to find that process lord that brings us to renewal this we pray in christ's name amen