[0:00] Just speak, just see what's happening. Is it good? Oh, awesome, awesome, yay. Cool. Praise be to God, and take that microphone, devil. I don't know for sure.
[0:17] I could learn more about them. I don't want to focus too much on them, but I do know they're petty. I'm very convinced of that. They just want a mess, so I would not be surprised. Anyways, yes, praise be to God that we are here today to understand his word, to be in community, in his presence, as part of our week, as part of both the symbol of what Jesus has done, and as a pattern for life to move forward.
[0:44] And yet that normal pattern, as always, is to delve into this God who has revealed himself, this true God who has revealed himself through his word, collected across many believers, and culminated for us in a whole book that has his plans, both in their fulfillment and to what we do now.
[1:04] And that is the question for today. It's kind of the question for all days. It's a little more specific sometimes going, or continuous, just going into God's world, God's word, it's unfolding, it's revealing.
[1:22] Today, though, we have a little bit more going on. We have some specific. The Life Network's here, and that's not some arbitrary thing. We are here on Sunday to be community with God, but we go out, and we go out and do things.
[1:38] Often mundane things. We have to. Glory be to God. He does get glory in that. But today, but we are also in a world with a level of things. Like, we're in a democratic society.
[1:49] We're told we have to make decisions about things we don't understand, and with a lot of people who don't want us to understand them, going about. We have all these different spheres we have to try and figure these things out on.
[2:03] And in the U.S. and around the world, there is this pro-life movement. There are children, and it's argued it is a right for people to be able to get rid of them, to be able to take them away, to stop their life cycle, stop their continuity of life.
[2:19] And it's one that, especially in our state, is quite grim. Glory be to God, there is always hope. But it's a sober hope. So what am I here to do today?
[2:32] To talk about God's word in light of that on several levels. First, I'll introduce a framework. We'll start with some Bible, of course. Keep us grounded. I'll start with a framework, hence fancy whiteboard stuff, to help close the distance between God's word and how we live in life.
[2:53] We'll be talking about Psalm 51 today. It is considered, at least part of it, to be a pro-life passage. That helps us understand, like, where do we stand on this stuff. I want to say a lot of strong words, but I need to come from the right place.
[3:08] We need to come from the right place, and right heart, too, ultimately. That being said, we'll be careful about the passage and display what it's about.
[3:20] Psalm 139 is a great one where it has this great talk about, you know, being knitted in the mother's womb, fearfully and wonderfully made, things like that. What's not nearly quoted as much is the part where he talks about slaying the wicked and how he hates people with complete hatred.
[3:34] Psalm 51 is a little more of the opposite in that regard, where it seems like the darker passages, at least talking to people, are the ones more pronounced. And what's not seen in it nearly as often is the hope.
[3:48] And to me, that has been so precious lately. I hope that in a very real format I can pass that on all to you. So, yeah, so a framework, the pro-life section, the passage in general, so we get all the context right and in good order.
[4:07] First off, and as is my custom, Acts 17, 10 through 14. You don't have to turn there with me. I got it right here. But it is Acts 17, 10 through 14. I'm going all the way to the New Testament after Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection to the Acts of the Apostles to show what they are doing given what God has done.
[4:28] Acts 17, 10 through 14. Here reads the word of Yahweh. The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea.
[4:40] And when they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica. They received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
[4:56] Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.
[5:15] Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. So reads the word of Yahweh. Its own passage, you can dive deep.
[5:27] But there are several themes I think are important. Because I think the Bible has passages in it that help structure other passages, that help guide you. Some are commands, some are precepts, some are the contexts that make it all clear, some are a little more meta.
[5:41] And I think this one is one of those things. For one, appreciate the women of high standing. Make sure that's clear. But, you know, as that's in there and that's important, it shows how it spreads out the Bible.
[5:55] Shows how the gospel is for everyone and how everyone has a part in that. But more actually here are two things. One is what the Bereans did.
[6:08] And that is that in verse 11, they received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
[6:20] That they didn't just passively take this in and know it's good. They knew a context, they knew a standard, and they went to it.
[6:32] It was funny, but also very scary to be called pastor today. This is a great, if you want a great way to feel unworthy, come up here. It is something on that.
[6:46] It's a great way to feel the weight of the Lord. But even for the pastor, we should be praying for him, upholding for him, for all the elders, seeking that, and working with them diligently, being people who are also knowledgeable of the scriptures.
[7:04] It's not as our vocation, per se. It's not our job. We're not supposed to try and out-pastor the pastor. There is a hierarchy there. But we are supposed to walk with Jesus, too. We have our own life, understand that.
[7:15] And to at least be partially a guide rail for others, even the pastor. That is so much more true for me. So, yeah, just remember that. Take this in. Feel free.
[7:29] Like in Timothy, it talks about reproof, rebuke, exhort, all of that. That goes for all of us. So, yes. So, just remember that. May my words be true, but may God be true, though every man a liar.
[7:40] So, yes. Second thing, though, and this starts getting us to our point, what did they search? In verse 11, it says they examined the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. From our context, it's really easy to think that's just like the whole Bible, Old Testament, New Testament.
[7:55] I believe it's highly unlikely that they had any of the New Testament at this point. I'm not sure any of it was written at this point, let alone given into the hands of a Jewish synagogue.
[8:07] So, what are they talking about? I believe they're talking about the same thing that Jesus talks about in Luke 24 when he told them how all the scriptures reveal them, reveal him, or point to him.
[8:19] It's the Old Testament. He is talking about the Old Testament. They didn't have the New Testament to prove Jesus. They had the Old Testament, but that proved Jesus for them.
[8:32] So, yes. So, praise be to God that we have the completed story, that we live in the completed story and can move forward in that assurance, in that confidence.
[8:44] But the Old Testament is bedrock for that. Even in the most, like, kind of radical splitting groups, you do not have the new formats, the ones that create the most discontinuity between Old and New Testament.
[8:55] You do not have the New Testament without the Old Testament. It is that bedrock. Jesus does not make sense of it. You cannot make sense of Jesus and who he is without it. I believe Psalm 51 does fit into that.
[9:09] So, with that, please turn in however you turn in your Bible or Bible technology to Psalm 51. It is page 474 of your pew Bibles.
[9:19] Psalm 51.
[9:49] Here reads the word of God. To the choir master, a psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone into Bathsheba.
[10:04] Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy. Blot out my transgressions.
[10:15] Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
[10:37] Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in the truth in the inward being, and you teach wisdom in the secret heart.
[10:50] Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
[11:03] Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
[11:15] Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
[11:28] Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God. O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
[11:43] O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it. You will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
[11:56] The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure.
[12:08] Build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bowls will be offered on your altar.
[12:20] So reads the word of Yahweh. Let us pray. O Lord, glory be to you, our Father in heaven, the head of the triune God, the God who is head over all things, and yet purpose us, purpose personally made us here with us.
[12:35] Glory be to you. Glory be to you that you have given us a word, and that we can delve into it. May you bless us here. May you protect us. May your Holy Spirit be with us.
[12:46] May you protect me so nothing dumb comes out of my mouth, bad or dumb, and may you protect them. So even if it does, Lord, they can cipher. Let only what is good and true be remembered today for your glory and for our benefit.
[13:00] In your name I pray. Amen. Amen. How do we know things?
[13:18] And specifically, how do we know how we ought to act? How are we as Christians supposed to think about life, act in life, and act in certain situations?
[13:31] We all understand this on one level. The Bible constantly focuses about the moral life. It talks about, it hints at a lot of other things, the structuring of the created order, providence, and history.
[13:43] And some of those are hints, way too modest of a word for some of that. But the moral side of things seems to constantly be present. Bible talks, whatever you eat, breathe, whatever you do for the glory of God.
[13:56] So much of the Bible focuses on the law, what it was supposed to do, how and when certain people were supposed to live by it. Was it exposed? What's its limits? The moral life is there.
[14:10] And not just before God, like when we go out. There's a way to be amongst the Christian community. There's also an interrelated way about going about our lives on the various levels.
[14:22] Poor that. And we see the world, too, make a lot of moral claims, saying how we ought to be. And ones, like especially this pro-life issue, ones that have to be off, as far as we can tell.
[14:35] I mean, we want to be humble, want to be meek, want to make sure we are traveling the right path morally, ethically, and grounded in the actual physical path we're walking. But at the same time, we want to know how to be, and how do we say that in a world that wants to be countered.
[14:54] The Bible is far from silent on this, both on just in general how do we know things, and the morally how do we know things, how are we out to be. Proverbs 1.7, probably too favorite of a passage of mine, says, the fear of the Lord, actually, no, it's actually no fear in that.
[15:10] It's not a favorite enough of mine. I take that back. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. So if we want to know things, moral things too, we have to start with God.
[15:23] And just to begin to know things, just to keep us humble a bit, it's like, oh, great, we'll know things now. No, you can start and trust God from then on. Proverbs 3.5-6 says a very similar thing.
[15:34] Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes.
[15:46] Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. So that's Proverbs 1.7, Proverbs 3.5-6. Sensing a theme here about how to live life.
[16:02] And not only does it give us that basis, it even gives us methods by which to go about that. For example, Proverbs 26.4-5. That is Proverbs 26.4-5.
[16:14] Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. A little interesting there.
[16:25] In one way, answer. In another way, don't answer. How do you not answer? According to his folly. According to a system. According to the way the person rationalizes things. God tells us to trust him first and foremost.
[16:37] And if they don't have a system that does that, we cannot accept it. We cannot communicate or it. If it has overlap, excellent. Like that gives us ability to communicate.
[16:49] There's fancy philosophical words for that. But for us to translate our thoughts. So that is good. Praise be God to the extent that we have that. But the grounding is different. And therefore, the implications will be too.
[17:00] And in some ways, even the methods themselves. However, it still says answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. So on the same time, we don't accept their system. But we are aware that it's a different system.
[17:10] We point out it's a different system in some way, shape, or form. And show that it cannot work because ultimately, it doesn't have that God at the basis. If you don't have that fear of the Lord, something is off.
[17:24] And you will see that in how it has expanded out. Now, who is this God? Like, this seems to be very God-centric. Who do we, who is this God we're talking about?
[17:36] Praise be to God. We have a whole Bible. We have pastors who expound it. Fellow Christians that we can talk with. But just to give you one. This is one that if you've seen me up here a lot, you've probably heard me talk about before.
[17:46] I think it's just such a great one. Our sun. That thing in the sky that's lighting up our entire world. Well, not our entire world, but the part facing it. But you get the point.
[17:59] It's only an average-sized star. A star being giant balls of stable, like nuclear reaction happening based on hydrogen.
[18:13] It's only an average-sized one. But that still means it's roughly 100 of our Earth across in diameter. If you put, like, I don't know, 100 baseballs out in a row to kind of get a glimpse of that, that would be the diameter of the sun going there.
[18:29] However, some stars are several hundred of our suns across. So in other words, if you pretend, yeah, the sun's now a baseball and we'll line it all up, get some glimpse of that.
[18:42] So our sun is tiny compared to some of the big ones. But either way, the sun may be only one of 70 billion trillion stars.
[18:56] That's seven times 10 to the 22nd power for anyone that's curious. At that point, numbers are, they have way bigger numbers in science, mathematics, and stuff.
[19:07] But already at this point, it's who actually understands that at a meaningful level. All these, like, super planet-sized nuclear reactions happening in the sky.
[19:19] And the number changes. So they may have a new revised number that has way more than that. Just looking on the internet, you get a whole bunch of conflicting numbers. But they're all massive in that same sphere.
[19:34] In the Bible, Yahweh did all that in less than a day. And at least in the ESV, in only a fraction of a sentence. It was, and the stars.
[19:44] Or, and the stars also. It's not a deal. Like, while he is ordering our solar system to bring us in existence, the context of his story, the earth, and the people that are made in his image, he takes several days to do that.
[19:59] The stars, though, something like that. It's impressive. It's almost an afterthought. That God is so powerful, he could do all of that and be like, oh yeah, I'll do that.
[20:11] It's a good idea. So, and he knows how to do that. Because these aren't just things up in the sky. They aren't just a paint blob. They are levels of complex biological reactions happening.
[20:25] Or, sorry, chemical reactions happening. So, not only is God powerful, in a way we'll never understand, be fully comprehensible to us, he is knowledgeable, in a way. So, when we're talking about this God, that's the beginning of knowledge, that is that God.
[20:41] Another thing to know is not only these things, and this is one where I believe he's quite unique. He is deeply, and something that's harder to grasp as you go to the Bible, but is definitely there, is, he is complex in his unity, and unified in his plurality.
[21:03] In other words, he has what we've called a triune nature. He is the Trinity, the triune God. To say it simply, without getting into all the debates, three persons in one being. In the Bible, we have three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are persons.
[21:18] They speak like persons. They interact with us people. They have the attributes like us, even if on a greater caliber, and perfected. And all three are called God.
[21:29] So, we say three persons, and the one being their God. At least, that's a fairly safe way to say it, in the academic debates. Because of this, so we have two things going on.
[21:44] We have this triune God, that creates and sustains. And are these two related? In Genesis 1, you have both God and Spirit mentioned, in the creation.
[21:57] And later in John 1, in the New Testament, you also have Jesus talked about being mentioned there. Not only that, though, but you also have a sustaining factor. It's not just they created it and let it go.
[22:09] In Psalm 104, it talks about God actually working to preserve the order of things. And in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5, Jesus says the same thing about the Father.
[22:21] It's part of his mercy about how he causes it to rain on both the good and the evil, the just and the unjust. The sun rises for them both. At the same time, in Colossians 1.17, after Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, it says that through Jesus, all things hold together too.
[22:36] So he's also part of that sustaining effort. So you have creation and sustaining for that. The Spirit has a little more mysterious role, and I think it's because he's the most mysterious person in that group.
[22:51] But he is seen in the Bible as both providing and orchestrating in it. Exodus 31 is found where he gives the information to the people to build the tabernacle for God, to build God's dwelling place among the people, and the symbol for what the Holy Spirit now does for us.
[23:10] And in Acts 10, you see the Holy Spirit very coordinating. Like, oh, I have sent these people to you, Peter. Go and find them, things like that. So that sustaining working in is something you see all of them do.
[23:21] You see all three persons of the Trinity in some way create, and in some way all three persons of the Trinity sustain. So, if God both made and sustains all of his creation, which includes us, in a Trinitarian way, it's at least possible that the right way to think about reality is in a Trinitarian way.
[23:42] And that's where this glorious thing comes in. Now, ethically, there are multiple... Are you going to explain the Trinity? I'm sorry. I am indebted to John M. Frame and Vern Poitras, except for where I'm wrong, that's me, for this.
[23:57] But they've worked on this way on trying to see, how do we see God's light in this? And this is coming to a point. I know I'm abstracting out, but bear with me. Let me go back to Psalm 51. He has...
[24:08] They've built this framework in order to try and find a way to talk about thinking Trinitarily in a Trinitarian way to reflect God's thoughts. And they've came up with this framework. There's a side story, and they're also doing this in light of the ethical debates, like the different ethical frameworks and stuff.
[24:24] And among many things, one thing they've noticed is that a lot of the positions seem to have a problem in that they don't include the other, and it's strengths and weaknesses. So what they came up with is a Trinitarian epistemology, a tri-perspective ethic.
[24:41] There's some fancy words here. Here's normative, situational, existential, have the things. You can say it a lot more simply. The normative is Yahweh's word.
[24:55] His law, his word, what he has given to us, provides the standard by which we judge all other standards, the way he speaks most directly and generally to all of us. The S, the situation, is Yahweh's world.
[25:13] Of reality. Our bodies, too. Our minds. That part that we exist in, whether, because I do believe we are definitely soul, but made also to be this fully complex being in this fully complex world that he's made for us to sustain us and for us to act in, as well as with all us people, both here as believers and the unbelievers.
[25:39] And then this one's the hardest, though I think Psalm 51 will help us so much here. I'd say in the presence of Yahweh.
[25:51] It's the existential side. Our existence in relation to other existences. So this is Yahweh's world, Yahweh's world, Yahweh's word, Yahweh's presence.
[26:03] So I bring this all up. This is a big tangent even for me. I say it's not because it helps us, for one thing, it helps us ground what we do here in life.
[26:17] An important piece, because all three of these pieces that create this kind of trade-tarian ethic, you get all three, you have that Christian thought. It deeply connects God's world to things.
[26:30] So we don't just have to talk about, oh, let's look at the genetics and see if the genetics of a baby is different from the genetics of a mom. We can say, because the God who made genetics as a way to structure all life says things about his creation, and we can take that into account.
[26:48] And then we can make sense of that genetic order, and we can make sense of the pro-life movement and pro-life pregnancy centers, things like that. So it's excellent in that way. Also, because it grounds God's presence in ethics too.
[27:02] That's that situation side. So yes. So it's also cool too, and it is also with Psalm 51, is that it will ground us. It's both macro and micro.
[27:15] You can say like, oh, this is an epistemology, like so on the highest level of how do we think it's in a structure like that. Then you can boil it down to ethics. How do we think ethically? You can also boil it down to a subject.
[27:27] They are very clear on this. This is a way to help relate the very just immediate situation we're in, just the pieces there, as well as the microbes of generating how we ought to be.
[27:39] And with that, to try to give us, and what my hope is, is that when we read the Psalm, like we're not just trying to take like a theory and press it in, but as we read and go deep into the world, it'll help us bridge the gaps between what people are doing on the front lines and what we're doing here today, trying to read God's word.
[27:59] So with that, let me go back to Psalm 51. Let's read piece by piece. Starting with that first section, that introduction. To the choir master, a Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone into Bathsheba.
[28:19] So note, the Psalm comes with instructions. That first part, important, to the choir master. What are these Psalms? Who are they for? In some way, shape, or form, you have to say they are for a plurality of people.
[28:31] This isn't just David singing to himself. At bare minimum, this choir had to speak his words. And from that first person perspective. So they are saying this from their perspective.
[28:42] It applies to themselves. So notice that plurality. Also, just to point into some of this, there's a situation. Like, what is this Psalm supposed to be structured as? For one, it's supposed to be sung by a choir.
[28:54] So you can kind of grasp like what it was like in reality. So you can better understand how it's for us, how it speaks to us. But that also has a deeper situation. It says, when Nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone into Bathsheba, Bathsheba.
[29:08] That's a story in and of itself. Just to connect it to that, you're getting more of a situational side there. Like, what's this word? Like, when we read God's word, what's the situation that helps make sense of it to us?
[29:20] Sort of deal. But also a deeper point, because this makes it clear. I can't go into that full story. 2 Samuel 11 through 12 is where you find the story of David's deep sin and the consequences of it.
[29:34] 1 Samuel, or 2 Samuel 11 is David failing, failing, failing. And all that implies. 2 Samuel 12 is him being judged for and his family being judged for it.
[29:48] The one thing I'll say as we go into this is there's a point around this time period, especially if this was written during that, where he's just on the floor fasting and praying outside of, I believe, outside the door of his dying child's room.
[30:01] So there's some context on that. So with that, the next section. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy.
[30:18] Blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. So the one thing to be careful with these things is that they can be sterile.
[30:30] You can just think of these words, but this is, but that's all, especially when you just get into kind of strict theory, just the logics of how we're out to act. That's why the situation is so important here. Look at this. Look at this.
[30:40] He is just, in a structured way, obviously, but he is raw directly to God. There's not a lot of fluff here. Have mercy on that. directly to him, just begging, just pleading for God to do things.
[30:56] And notice who, on what level. Like, don't have mercy on me. I'm good. You know, I'm right. Help me. Have mercy according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy, according to who God is.
[31:11] He's begging on the basis of who God is. A merciful God. A God that balances just as a mercy who at the end knows how to get all the debits and credits down right on that.
[31:25] He is the God there and that's who he's praying to. Asking him. And what is he praying about? Blot out my transgressions. Take it away. Wash me. He understands his state before a holy God and he also knows what that God can do and he's asking for that change.
[31:42] That change he cannot do. But God can. He's pleading with him for that. Just him and God because of that situation. Because he knows God's law.
[31:52] He's just there before God doing that. And the choir, the plurality of people does that too. Next section. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.
[32:06] Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
[32:18] Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth and the inward being and you teach me wisdom in the sacred heart.
[32:31] Sorry, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. So notice the four there. The Psalms have certain structures to them and sometimes they go for an artistic element maybe to get like the main themes, the continuing themes ahead of time and then go into the points.
[32:50] The four here indicates that rationally this is the beginning of the piece. So the reasoning that is happening in this Psalm starts here.
[33:03] And what is it? He knows his transgressions and not does he know him, he can't not know him at this point. They're just before him. They're haunting him. And in a way, it's pierced like his moral being.
[33:14] Ever done something wrong and you're kind of like, yes, it went and later it hits you that it was wrong? Like you kind of knew it was wrong but you didn't feel it was wrong and when you feel it then you are distraught.
[33:26] You wonder how you could have been otherwise. And an interesting side for this pro-life passage that a lot of the former abortionists that have stopped, they talk about those moments in their life where they just kind of, they did so many of these abortions but it didn't click, it didn't connect.
[33:45] And then one day somehow it happened and you have ones like Anthony Levitino I believe who then testify on stage and many others who at least will talk about this in some way, shape or form.
[33:56] But that's what happened to David with Nathan the prophet and now he can't unsee it. Says against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.
[34:09] Now if you read that story it's a little like against him only I feel like he kind of killed this one Uriah guy sort of deal. So it's a little weird there but then again who is this God?
[34:20] I was talking about you know the God that made all the suns without blinking. They all stars in the sky like that. this is a God who take that kind of power and transfer that massiveness of it to his holiness and then you can see why you're saying that.
[34:38] This is a completely holy God. All his expansive character on the same level of a God who can create the whole universe his personality things like that his whole being his tri-personality in that regard all of that is holy as well perfected worthy of all praise.
[35:01] So compared to that first and foremost and again going back to the fear of the Lord's beginning of God to this full ethic like he did fail God first and foremost and a holy God and compared to that what else matters.
[35:17] Does the rest still do? Absolutely but through that God who made us all in his image who gave us all value. That is why he can say against you you only have I sinned and done what is evil on your side.
[35:32] That's one thing to remember God is present God is there he's not absent from his creation he's not away from the darkness. So when we so it is an up front to him it may be a front to many others and we need to take that into account but it is an up front to him.
[35:51] as if he's present there with the very people we're presently harming and if they're off a distance which you know it's very it's far easier to sin against someone who's distant in a way but he's both there and he's here when we do that so sometimes he's that true experiencer of that in that way he always is but like in that particular way he can be present in when others are not the ones we're actually trying to harm.
[36:15] notice what he says next against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
[36:31] To me I'm still trying to grasp this to me this is immense but it's like his sin his sin and his awareness of sin are just and deserved and in a way that points to God like God is good in pointing this out God is proven true though every man like David be a liar God is proven right God's judgment has proven just so even here I say there's some providence to this he sees the continuity of his sin and we'll get into that in a sec how far that continuity goes back he sees that continuity of his sin he sees God's purpose in it even in this darkness even in his light and he knows you are that good and just God who gives right judgment so in that he sees that this is just which leads us to verse 5 behold I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me and there's that famous pro-life passage there so we're talking about that continuity he sees the purpose of this how far back he sees it through his whole life right now and where does that life go to in from conception onwards from that womb in his own terminology for that but clearly before I was born his very making involved this and he is struggling with that that sin nature that has manifested now started then and that continuity of his failure is there and behold like he's talking to God right here it's not God's indifferent of this he is basically telling God what he already knows on that point which follows through behold you delight in truth in the inward being and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart
[38:18] God delights in knowing the true self and he delights teaching the true self not just superficially but through our core and we'll talk more about that because a lot of pieces about that but it also goes like the clean me the changing of me not a superficial changing but delight in changing who I really am at the deepest level which connects with the sin nature that he sees from that whole time forward till now like that sin nature is deep and he wants that change to be deep he wants God to be a delight in the truth found there but yes back to five for a bit because pro-lifetime behold I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me so again that continuity of human to from conception onwards is there and it's not alone in there Exodus 21 22 through 25 I have a handout that has more of these in the bulletin but that's one where in the law it provides protection for the unborn in
[39:23] Psalm 22 9 is another passage with similar terminology Psalm 139 is probably the most famous one that you knitted me together in my mother's womb wording that's just so beautiful but also even hints at the kind of technical amazingness that is an unborn child developing Isaiah 49 has similar things like God's calling like from the womb onwards and Jeremiah 1 5 like is a similar one just showing how intentional people are made from that point onwards however it's not just the Old Testament there's one I want to read it is John 9 1 through 3 as he passed by he saw a man blind from birth Jesus being the one passing by and his disciples asked him Rabbi who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind Jesus answered it was not that this man sinned or his parents but that the works of God might be displayed in him now two things one they believe that this they said who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind we live in this temporal order if there's a judgment for the sin it comes after the judgment so if he is born blind when did the person have to sin in the womb so in that sense it's not our favorite example of the continuity of the hearing experience but then again
[40:55] I don't think this was David's favorite example either for him but it shows that like there is that relationship with God there is that personhood personalness enough to us that we can understand God on some level be in relation in God with some level and violate that though interesting Jesus says because Jesus remember he's not afraid to critique the disciples he does that a lot a bit harshly I think I'd melt!
[41:23] Praise God for Peter I'd probably leave I'd probably have too much pride but Jesus says it was not that this man sinned or his parents but that the works of God might be displayed in him just notice the intentionality he's like I'm going to design this person in such a way from the womb and have him experience the things he did so that God's power and God's mercy will be known through him so this theme is there and it is assumed for all intents and purposes it's obvious they don't do a treatise on why they believe in their theology and their logic it's there in the theology apparent it's bedrock like here this section is a four section just like in Psalm 139 believes the same way it's the starting of the reasoning here and it's one of the verses found in this section of the
[42:24] Psalm that does that there's so many dimensions to this I like to be the clinical sterile side that talks about the numbers and oh yeah this is evil just leave it at that praise be to God to the people who deal with real people and real situations and real context with their own relationships there but at the with the kind of love that Jesus showed but also the confirmation of truth on that bedrock of truth we do need to stand because of passages like this they are clearly made in the image of God it doesn't start later all the text points to that and that's where we make our stand whether to try and stop any more from being bored and helping those who have suffered the loss time I will move forward purge me with hyssop so 7 through 12 now purge me with hyssop and
[43:31] I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than snow let me hear joy and gladness let the bones that you have broken rejoice hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities create in me a clean heart oh God and renew a right spirit within me cast me not away from your presence and take not your holy spirit from me restore unto me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit so first off hyssop this is a clear case of some symbolism even someone as theologically daft as me congrats this one it's something used in the Bible it's used in cleaning rituals you have it in Leviticus for the leopards sorry deal it's part of that so he's using the symbolism he's enshrining his truth in other truth God has said like he's in his request to
[44:33] God his pleads to God he's alluding to what God has done what he has set up for us what he has set up for the Israel nation and the law they abide by and liking himself to one of those people who needs to be cleansed to be in right relation with a holy God there's also another really powerful example probably the most powerful one at least in the modern human memory hyssop was also used at the Passover and when I say the Passover I mean the Passover when God passed over the Israelites and took out the firstborn of the Egyptians at least if they took the blood of the lamb put hyssop in it and used that to put it on their door post a sign of God passing over them and at this point they were already a grumbling people like when Pharaoh took away the straw for them to make bricks so it wasn't passing while there was a symbol it was something it was connected to something they did it wasn't!
[45:34] because they were the good people just doing the good things God chose a people and this was a sign that he would protect them in his mercy he would protect them while in his justice he worked on their captives and it was after that that they were able to go but he's alluding to that knowing that because some way David doesn't have like Jesus crucified and all that he doesn't have a clear image of that but he knows God is merciful God in his right nature chooses and chooses rightly where his mercy is applied but he is merciful and that's what David is pleading for purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be wider than snow again with the blot like transgressions are there they're stuck wash him take him away make me clean make me presentable before you oh God let me hear joy and gladness let the bones that you have broken rejoice now at this point especially if you read 2 Samuel 11 12 you'll see that he's on the ground fasting just praying his sin and its consequences are really just tearing him apart and rightly so he wants to be back in right relation with
[47:00] God he wants to be joyful again he wants to hear that gladness and he wants it be to a purpose let the bones that you have broken rejoice let this be good let me see your goodness in my suffering in my afflictions let me praise you kind of like was it the jail a!
[47:20] passage I wish I remember but like Paul and his compatriots rejoicing! in prison like that's what David's longing for even in the suffering knowing that it's God who does it God who has good ends for it and as he seeing now like the justice in it and the mercy that can follow again just more of this pleading language I have talked about the model a bit but because of the situation and God's law that knows him how he is there before God that existential in the presence of Yahweh just pleading pleading in every way he can think of to take away the sin this debt of sin that he cannot repay that he cannot do hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit again going deep to like that so that it's not just like okay I'm good this route it's like I am good for as long
[48:24] I mean that's the word he's not there but it's a deep change that he can continue on with going forward he'll be a new person cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me I do really love that song I do really love that section thank you this is also one of those places though where I think we need to be a little careful God can definitely cast people away from his presence the question is like if we are a Christian what does he do if we are truly a Christian because that is part of the question what is our confidence and that gets us to that second part and take not your Holy Spirit from me also questions of continuity this is still an Old Testament text bedrock it's not the final story it's not the full story and not one we can look back on yet it's still looking forward to things yet delivered and
[49:25] Ephesians 1 13 14 we have this in him you also when you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and believed inheritance until we require possession of it to the praise of his glory this is where the Old Testament and New Testament are different after what Christ did after the father and the son send the spirit after Pentecost we don't have to worry about this the way David did the way Saul did the way David saw it in Saul going forward not because of who we are but because what God did and what has changed because of that so take heart in that of how faithful God is and how present he is with us yes definitely so much still caution because we can be dead in like we still fail we still make mistakes many small and even big ones so take caution because we can still dead in ourselves to hearing that in some way shape or form
[50:32] I want to be careful but that does happen we are still like David with that sin nature continuing onwards that constant rebellion even in ourselves even at the west of the world friendly that we fight but still take heart that God is faithful and present with us second to last stanza 13 through 17 then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will return to you deliver me from blood guiltiness O God O God of my salvation and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness O Lord open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise for you will not delight in sacrifice or I would give it you will not be pleased with a burnt offering the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart O God you will not despise sorry I wish I hadn't run out of tears already otherwise I would probably cry on that section like I said this is a psalm of hope like just look at this then you had the four before and you have the then now like the order of it if you clean me
[51:46] O God I can teach to transgressor your ways sinners will return to you I can show them your right laws but I can also show them your mercy I can show sinners that there is hope with you and going back to that choir part that plurality like the personalization of this this is something that is I believe one of the examples for us on who we can be despite who we are because it's what God is doing and if we come to him with our sins and he blots out and he changes and he renews us we can be that too as we go out into the world we can teach to transgressors and sinners will return I think of Dr.
[52:36] Anthony Levantino just one example of the former abortionists who are now going trying to put a stop to what they in part very much wrought of that a guy who was just changed and did a 180 after he persecuted the church violently and David gets that too he knows he knows God's law probably better than me he's as a king he was supposed to write it all out so he would have his own copy and he would know and he was not supposed to be any better than anyone else in that sort deal like as far as the law goes like yes he's maybe the leader of the people but he's under that same law and he knows how much he has failed deliver me from blood guiltiness oh god oh god of my salvation and my tongue will sing aloud to you blood guiltiness that's a very strong word as far as far as as it's very specific it's about he killed someone for this but as that plurality even if it applies it's a great it's part of that hope a great reason to apply if god can forgive that what what can he not forgive but then again that's also one of those things where we gotta be careful too because
[54:00] Jesus changed things you have heard that it was said of old you shall not murder this is Matthew 5 21 through 26 you have heard that it was said of old you shall not murder and whoever murders will be liable for judgment but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment whoever insults his brother will be liable to counsel and whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire so in the one sense be grateful for what God has forgiven but also remember his holiness remember what actually is at stake Paul talks in like Romans 15 the law is there to expose sin actually in some ways maybe even to be a catalyst for it so that as it puts it in that we may be sinful beyond measure not that the law itself is that but that's what helps see what sin uses what those who want us to!
[55:03] God because we realize we cannot do this that we are incapable so what we have to do we have to do just what David did pray to God be there knowing that he is there and ask him to deliver us so that we can turn around and show that he has delivered us so that like David says my tongue will sing aloud your righteousness oh Lord open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise Lord make me be a God that delights in you that rejoices you that's not just overwhelmed by my sin nature but is able to praise you and show how good you are!
[55:51] for and give it you will not be pleased with a burnt offering the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart oh God you will not despise now for one I think there's a technical point I believe there is no sacrifice for the level of sin he's done he just deserves judgment at that point but two we're getting proto gospel here he is realizing that this can't be it the law cannot be it the mosaic conditional law cannot be it otherwise what can we do it unless we are right with you can praise you are in relationship with you it's just a superficial um what's the word I'm looking for it's just doing it's just doing going through it's going through the motions it's the word you know those days where you just feel like you don't care but you are doing what you got to do that's that and that's not good before a holy god so the law can't be it in fact so what is it the sacrifices of god are a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart oh god you will not despise i'm not ready to handle the hebrews i don't point out much but i have good source that says that contrite there in 17 means crushed a broken and crushed heart oh god you will not despise i find this so hopeful we don't have to bring our best to him in fact he delights when we bring our worst to him at least in the self aware the sense where we know how terrible we are we know we have nowhere to go we go to him that is a sacrifice pleasing to god praise be to that the god of the beatitudes the god who died on the cross the god whose right sacrifice is just coming to him with our failures with our baggage that is pleasing sacrifice to him praise be to that i am still in training i forgive you for all the time i'm taking i'm going to go through this last section a little fast but those last two verses do good to zion in your good pleasure build up the walls of jerusalem then you will delight in right sacrifices and burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings then bowls will be offered on your altar another point we go back remember david is still old testament he is king he has been given the law they need to provide it but he still understands that it's about right relationship first and foremost first that believing in you god and then working out these things but one point to point here is that plural part like not only does this apply like as we can all speak this to god but it applies in the sense that if we do this it helps the community back then zion zion was it has a lot of sources but it all goes back it takes it over it is called zion it is the capital it is jerusalem maybe a specific place sometimes used prophetically but ultimately points to the center of the ethnic national jewish kingdom so you do well there it is well for all the people like
[59:26] I am coming to you oh god change me deliver me from my sins do well for my people so I dare say don't just think about this in terms of you though definitely do get that relationship with you god right think about those around you think about what your right relationship with god will do to your community to your family to your friends on that think of the good merciful god who wants that so again thank you so much for your time I do need to bring us to the new testament though to make sure that this is in one sense this is foundational this is building these are I think very much the kind of things that the new testament apostles looked at to point to Christ and what Christ did for us and have it make sense but even in the new testament it's there on its own and deeply so I'll only read one of these sections though one was Luke 18 9 through 14 that's the parable of the
[60:28] Pharisee and the tax collector the Pharisees thank you I'm not like everyone else look at the good thing the Pharisee won't even look up just have mercy on me a sinner the tax collector is the one that another one that's not a parable is Luke 22 39 through 43 Luke 23 39 through 43 one of the criminals who are hanged oh yes so this is at the crucifixion you have Jesus hung two thieves as well or two criminals one of the criminals who are hanged railed at him saying are you not the Christ save yourself and us but the other rebuked him saying do you not fear God notice the fear of God do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation and we indeed justly for our we are receiving the due reward of our deeds but this man has done nothing wrong and he said
[61:35] Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom and he said to him truly I say to you today you will be with me in paradise the apostle Paul in the new testament calls David a man after God's own heart Paul wasn't lying and wasn't ignorant of the scriptures for for multiple reasons one David had a general life of excellence before God a faith before God trusting it but I think part of that reason is because when he failed he did this he went before a holy God and he asked for mercy so maybe remember that so on several levels I hope this framework has been helpful on some level you can go deeper but today we sorry I get stuck sometimes but we are here to do well and right before a holy
[62:37] God to his glory first and foremost hence this word my hope is that through that as we do this you can understand in your time in place in your situation what you need to do rightly and ethically and how to do that praise God for that as God walks with you and I pray that we've also seen that on these levels like with the life network why that matters too why their role in this situation matters why God's why God's word justifies that and why we should pray for God's presence in this may God bless you all thank you oh let me pray that's out me out our father in heaven glory be to you as I said before I say again!
[63:21] let what is remembered only that is good please blot out that may you be the God of mercy the God who works despite of us because you're the one that gifts because you're the one that plans you're the one that works through all things glory be to you that we have a God that is present so we don't have to rely on our own strength our own wit our abilities slash abilities our own hubris Lord pray that we can know that you are there doing your will and we pray that your will is aligned with this church with the life network with your bodies of believers the pro-life movement in general through all of us as we work to take your word and to live it out where we're at in presence with you to your glory in your name I pray amen