I Shall Lift Up My Hands

Father God, we come before you and we thank you for bringing us together as part of your body, part of the elect, to come and to worship you with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Lord, we cannot do this on our own. We need your strength. We need you to give us the focus and this energy to worship you as we ought. So we ask that you would give us that. Give us clean hands and pure hearts. Clean us so that we are fit to be in your presence. We ask that the Holy Spirit would work within us to receive your word, and that as we sing these songs and these prayers, that we would be in tune with you, that we would not just do this by rote memorization, but that our hearts would be in our worship. We ask all of these things in your holy and precious Son's name. Amen.

Our call to worship is from Psalm 18, and it is a responsive reading. I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge. The cords of death encompassed me, and the torrents of ungodliness terrified me. The cords of Sheol surrounded me. The snares of death confronted me. Therefore, I will give thanks to you among the nations, O Lord, and I will sing praises to your name. He gives great deliverance to his king and shows loving kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever. Amen. Let's give glory to God this morning as we sing Psalm 2. Amen. We now come to our time of confession.

And what we're reading here, our call to confession, is from Daniel chapter 9. And in Daniel chapter 9, we have Daniel confessing. And what we see is one of the reasons we do a prayer of confession is the example that we see here of Daniel, who's giving a corporate prayer of confession for his nation and for himself and the people. That is what we do here. It's a time that we all confess our sins together, but we're led by a single man in that act of confessing our sins. And we remember as we confess our sins, we're not revealing new things to God. Rather, when we confess our sins, we are in agreement with God. We're acknowledging the truths of his word and the ways in which our lives have transgressed his law or omitted to keep his law.

So if you are able, please kneel. A call to confession from Daniel chapter 9, 8 through 10. Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against you. nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in his teachings, which he set before us through his servants, the prophets. Let's pray. Father God, we can pray this prayer with Daniel. Our kings, our princes, and our fathers have sinned against you, and we have sinned against you. We have followed them in it, and many shameful things are very explicit throughout our culture.

As a nation, we have promoted perverse sexual things. We've promoted killing of our children, the murdering of infants. And we have promoted and are continuing to promote the killing of our parents through euthanasia. Forgive us. Forgive our culture for its love of death and its hatred of you. We ask that you would give us strength to fight against these perversions. that we would not get caught up in it, that we would not go along to get along, but that we would bear good witness to you, that we would make clear stands against these sins so that we are not put to shame. And we ask that you would give our leaders repentance.

that they would seek your face, that they would repent, and that we would see in the halls of our governments a turning away from these abominations and a turning towards you. But Lord, we pray that we would see this in our churches as well, that we wouldn't just expect our civil leaders to repent, but that we would expect ourselves and our pastors and our elders and the leaders in our churches to repent of these sins and to turn and to fight against them all. We ask that we would have the joy of seeing revival sweep across our nation. May it start here in our church and in our hearts and in our families. And may it spread out. We pray all these things in your Holy Son's name. Amen. If you have confessed your sins before the Lord God, to whom belongs compassion and forgiveness, then hear these words of pardon.

Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord. Let's now join in singing a hymn of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord Jesus Christ for his rich mercy on us sinners. Praise the Lord.

His mercy is stronger than darkness. Our sins, they are many. His mercy is more. Now, dear brothers and sisters, let's confess our faith in this merciful Father, Son, and Holy Ghost as we recite the Apostles' Creed. Christian, what do you believe? I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. You may be seated. Good morning.

Welcome to Clear Note Church. If you don't know me, I'm Pastor Eric, and we're excited to have everybody here with us. When you walk through the doors, you should have gotten a bulletin, and the important thing about the bulletin is what's inside of it, which is this connection card. If you did not get one, please raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring it to you. The connection card, as the name implies, allows us to connect with you if you give us your information. It also has some check marks if you're interested in any of the things listed or something else. Just write down what you would like information on and we'll get these and we'll get you information. But my favorite part of the connection card is on the back. It has prayer requests and other needs. I encourage you all to fill that out and to...

Let us know how we can be praying for you. There are at least three groups throughout the week who get together and pray through these requests. And I know there are others who pray through them outside of that. And so I encourage you, if you would like prayer for something, to fill those out. And so I'll give you a few seconds to do that. All right, well, we have a few announcements. The first thing I'd like to say is I hope you all... are enjoying this sparkly, clean carpet. And I'd like to thank all the gentlemen who came on Thursday and on Saturday to remove all the chairs from the sanctuary and clean out the nursery and mother's room, all these rooms that got cleaned. The carpets are looking great. I encourage you all to do your best to keep them looking that way. Though lived on carpet will look like it. But let's do our best to control our...

Coffee and not spill and those sorts of good things. Second, just an item of information, 10th Street and Raceway is going to be closed for four months, that intersection right there. They are putting in a roundabout. So on September 3rd, make sure you don't drive that way. Find a new route because you will not be able to get through. To my knowledge, understanding that is the case. So, and add time. If you're late, there's no excuse because I just warned you. So, beware of that if you come through that intersection. And that will be until sometime in November. All right. Now for the fun announcements. Women's Summer Playgroup is this Wednesday, July 23rd, starting at 10 a.m. They are meeting in Hummel Park in Plainfield.

and all women are invited, even if you do not have children who play on playgrounds or have children at all. Bring water, sunscreen, and a picnic lunch, and be ready for fun and fellowship with the other ladies. On Wednesday, July 23rd, in the evening at 6.30 p.m., we have youth group. This time we are meeting at the Meyer residence. So Nathan, be on time. All youth ages 7th through 12th grade are invited to come. And you're welcome to bring your friends. Finally, we have a pancake breakfast coming up. If you want details on that, talk to Michael Lakes. The 16th may or may not be the day that we have it. We're going to try and be coordinating something with the daycare. They want to do like an open house thing.

Stay tuned for more details. Talk to Michael if you have questions. But that will be coming up shortly. This now concludes our announcements. We now present to the Lord his tithes and our offerings. Would you please stand now and join me as we sing the doxology together. Let's sing. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. Our scripture reading for today is John chapter 17. Does anyone know what John chapter 17 is? It is a high priestly prayer, that's right. It is one of the most beautiful chapters in scripture, which is a hard thing to compete for, but it's wonderful. Have you ever considered the fact that Jesus prayed for you? Because this prayer that Christ prays is prayed for you.

If you're a believer, if you're one of his people, then this prayer is not just for the disciples at that time, but he actually is praying for all of his people. And so this is a really beautiful thing. This is why it's called the high priestly prayer, because what was the job of the high priest? It was to go into the temple and to intercede for the people. He was the one who was allowed to enter God's presence once a year to go into the Holy of Holies. And Christ is the fulfillment of all the high priests. He is the high priest, the true high priest. And so this is a beautiful section of scripture. And it should comfort you. It should give you strength. It should bring you joy. And you should also notice the unity within the Godhead of Christ.

of the Holy Spirit, of God the Father, how they work together and love each other and glorify each other. And it is simply wonderful. And so meditate on that and take pleasure in our Savior's love for us before we even existed and praying and seeking our good. This is the word of the Lord and it is eternally true. Jesus spoke these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you, even as you gave him authority over all flesh, that to all to whom you have given him he may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

I glorified you on the earth, having accomplished the work which you have given me to do. Now, Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was. I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they have come to know that everything you have given me is from you. For the words which you gave me, I have given to them. And they received them and truly understood that I came forth from you. And they believed that you sent me. I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom you have given me. For they are yours. And all things that are mine are yours. And yours are mine. And I have been glorified in them.

I am no longer in the world, yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, the name which you have given me, and that they may be one even as we are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in your name, which you have given me, and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition, so that the scriptures would be fulfilled. But now I come to you and these things I speak in the world so that they may have my joy made full in themselves. I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth.

As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in me through their word, and that they may all be one, even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, and that they may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. The glory which you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, just as we are one. I in them, and you in me, and they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me.

Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory which you have given me. For you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known you, yet I have known you, and these have known that you sent me. And I have made your name known to them and will make it known so that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Let's pray together. Gracious Father God, we come before you as your people to worship you and to bring you honor and glory and to praise you. And you deserve this, not only because you've created us, but because you saved us.

You knit us together in our mother's wombs. But even before that act, before you even made this world, you knew our names and you called us. And now you have brought us forth and you have brought us together as a body of believers to worship you and to sing your praises, to hear your word preached and read. And we thank you for this. It's not of our own, but it's of you. And we ask that you would be glorified by our praise. That you would be glorified by our thoughts. And by the ways we move and use our bodies. That everything we do would be to your glory and praise and honor. We thank you that Christ came and lived and died as a perfect sacrifice. That he rose again from the dead and didn't stay dead. But that he now is seated with you. What glory.

We pray that we would be united with you soon, that as we live in this world, that we would live as children of yours, that we would not be like the world. We thank you that as your children, we can come before you and make requests, that we can seek of you, and that you, as a good father, hear them, and that you answer our prayers, and that you give us better than we ask. And Lord, I pray that you would be with Pastor Dave and his family as they're on vacation this week, that you would bless them, that their time together would be sweet, and that they would bond well, and that they would have joy, and that they would enjoy your creation. And we ask that you would be with Timothy as he's out preaching in Columbus. I pray that the church would be blessed.

by the word that he preaches to them and would be encouraged and strengthened. And I pray that you would be with Pastor Andy as he leads the church, that it would grow and that he'd be encouraged and that they would bring you honor in Columbus. We pray that you would continue to be with the Barnards, that you would continue to heal them, that they would, as they have to take the summer easy, that this would be a joy to them. and that they would not have any further complications. And Lord, I ask that you be with all the families of our church. I pray that you would help our families to be united around the truth, that we would be diligent in teaching your truths to the people around us, to the world, and particularly to our children. We pray that you would be with the husbands, that they would give time and energy to their wives.

And to caring for their families. That they be devoted to teaching them and nurturing them. And to seeing them walk in your ways. I pray that you'd be with our wives. That they would be focused on their homes. That they would be diligent in creating a home for their husbands to come home to. That they would want to be there. And that they would love to be there delighting in their children and in their wife. I pray that you would be with the children of our church. that they would learn to love you and obey you. We pray that they would follow in your ways, that they would follow in the faith of their parents, that they would surpass their parents, and that they would continue walking in your ways, being devoted to the church and to the work of the church. And we pray that not one of them would be lacking when you return. We ask that you would bring about a revival of faith in our country.

that beginning here in our homes and in our church and in our workplaces, that the Holy Spirit would be poured out, that we would be diligent witnesses of the truths of your word, that we would speak of it, and that we would begin to see hearts softened and people turn, and that we would see your kingdom grow in mighty ways. And we ask that it wouldn't stop here locally, but that it would spread out forth and that we would see this nation turn once again towards you. That we would not continue in paths of unrighteousness and sin, but that we would see repentance. Lord, we ask now that as we turn to your word and as we read it and as I preach it, that you would be with the meditations of all our hearts.

We pray that you'd be at the words of my mouth, that they would be acceptable in your sight. Oh God, our rock and our salvation. In your holy son's name, amen. Well, this morning we are coming to the sixth section of Psalm 119. This is the Vav section, even if it's W-A-W, it's pronounced as a V. The Vav section. So as we've said before, every verse begins with a word that begins with Vav. And as with the other sections of the psalm, when we first come to it, it may not be apparent what the through line is or how all the verses are connected. But I think as we've seen before, as we consider these verses and what the psalmist is doing, there tends to be a logical progression through the verses that they are linked.

fit the poetry that he's doing. They're not just random Vav words, but they actually have significance and meaning, and there is a progression. The way I've divided it up for today is verses 41 through 43. And what we'll see in 41 through 43 is that these are the foundational truths through which the rest of the passage is built upon. And in verses 44 and 45, it's sort of a hinge that... Once the psalmist has stated the truths, he then begins to say, well, this is what we're going to do. He begins to talk about obedience and freedom that comes about from the truths which he stated. And then finally, we'll see that these truths, how they're expressed in the psalmist's life. And so my hope for us this morning is to encourage us, encourage you to take delight in God's mercy and in his salvation.

and that the truth of God's mercy and salvation would lead to a greater obedience to God in your life, that you would grow bolder in speaking the truth and in your walk with God. Please stand for the reading of God's word. This is Psalm 119, verses 41 through 48. May your loving kindness also come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your word. So I will have an answer to him who reproaches me, for I trust in your word. And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for I wait for your ordinances. So I will keep your law continually, forever and ever. And I will walk at liberty, for I seek your precepts. I will also speak of your testimonies before kings, and shall not be ashamed. I shall delight in your commandments, which I love.

And I shall lift up my hands to your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. May your loving kindness also come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your word. The first thing that I'd call your notice to in verse 41 is where the psalmist begins. He begins with God's loving kindness, crying out, pleading with God that his loving kindness would be showed to him. And the word that's translated as loving kindness or mercy is the Hebrew word chesed. And it's a very rich word. It's a deep word. It has much meaning. Chesed has to do with God's rich covenant loyalty to his people, the mercy that he shows them.

Remember when God is speaking to Moses on the mountain. Soon before Moses dies, Moses goes up. And Moses makes this request to God. He wants to see God. And so God assents to this request. He hides Moses in the cleft of a rock. And then in all his glory, he passes by Moses. And Moses sees the back of God. And I think we can get all caught up. Wouldn't that be cool? Wouldn't that be pretty amazing to have been on that mountain and to have God's glory pass by? But perhaps what's more astounding and more amazing is not that sight per se, but the truth which God declares to Moses at that time. As the Lord passed in front of him, he proclaimed this. The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in chesed.

loving kindness and truth, who keeps chesed, loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and the fourth generations. So you see this beautiful and amazing description of God. And the joy that it ought to bring us that God's described as compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth. And this is a very covenantal description of God, right? It's the parallel of his showing his chesed loving kindness and mercy to a thousand generations versus... The wicked, which has shown his displeasure and visiting judgment on the wicked to the third and fourth generation. So if you're one of God's people, there's this covenantal mercy and kindness that's showed generation after generation. And this is what the psalmist is calling on God to show him. He's calling on God that his loving kindness.

would be poured out on him. And notice, he goes to salvation, but before salvation comes mercy. Calvin says, there can be no doubt that in mentioning the mercy of God first and afterwards his salvation, the psalmist, according to the natural order, puts the cause before the effect. By adopting this arrangement, he acknowledges that there is no salvation for him but in the pure mercy of God. And while he desires a gracious salvation, he at the same time relies on the promise. And this is true of us. Our salvation is built upon the fact that God is merciful, that he has loving kindness. And the approach of the psalmist is first reminding himself and pleading with God to show him the mercy that is part of God's nature.

It's not all that God is. He's not without anger, but he's slow to his anger. And so we are saved because God is merciful. Our salvation is according to God's word. We can't be saved by any other name. And so notice he says, may your loving kindness also come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your word. So as we approach God, first we must see his mercy. And his loving kindness towards us. And we seek his salvation. But the salvation of God isn't based on how we feel. Or how we want. Or how the world tells us. The salvation is according to the word of God. And this section of the psalm. But really the whole psalm. And the prayers that the psalmist gives up to God. Are undergirded by these two truths. That God is merciful. And that he will save according to his word.

And so we ought to cry out continually to God and to devour his word so that we can learn of the salvation that he's wrought, so that we can learn of the character of this merciful God who's willing and ready to show us mercy and to grant us a salvation that's based on that mercy. Now, the psalmist goes on and he says, so I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust in your word. and do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for I wait on your ordinances. God's mercy and God's salvation which he gives us, they're an answer to those who would reproach us, who would want to heap shame upon us. Now you think about this, who might be, or what ways would the world slander us? How might the world reproach us? Well, thinking big picture, What about sex and sexual purity? As Christians, we believe in marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that sex is reserved for the marriage covenant, that we ought to be pure. We believe that we ought to be fruitful within marriage.

All of these things are under attack in the world around us. And so you think about your interactions with your coworkers or your friends at school or the people around us and the judgment, the slander, the reproach that they might want to keep upon you because you keep to the standard of God. Think about the sanctity of life. Again, the world. has embraced abortion, whether that is through an abortion clinic or whether that's through pills and chemical abortions. But we shouldn't be surprised that the world doesn't keep murder at that end of life, just with the infants, right? But now we see again and again laws and pushing for euthanasia, for killing old people or sick people, and pushing and making laws, trying to say, well, you know, They get to be in charge of their decision of whether to live or die. That is another area where if you take a stand, you'll be reviled. People will want to shame you for holding to the truths of God's word. Another area would be the exclusivity of the gospel. There is one name under which...

we are saved, right? That's Jesus. But how popular is it today to say that there is one way by which man can be saved and all other ways will lead to hell and judgment? It's not a very popular opinion, but it's not just an opinion, it's the word of God. The other thing is that we're going to get into is obedience, right? And we'll see that when we hold each other to a standard, when we say that obedience is required, Even Christians don't like that. We'll call you things like legalistic. But you probably all have ideas of how you'll be slandered. You've probably been slandered. You've had people push back or think that you're crazy for having taken a stand in God's word. But the question is, if we're slandered, not if we're slandered, when we're slandered, how do we bear under it? What gives us the strength to endure being slandered?

Well, it gives us the strength to deal with looking like an outsider in a world that hates God. Well, notice what the psalmist says. I will have an answer for him who reproaches me. What is the answer? Well, the answer flows out of verse 1. It flows out of the salvation that he finds in God. As a Christian, you know that God is merciful. And that he's given us sweet promises in scripture. And we can have confidence in those promises. And so when a believer is reproached, a believer says that they trust what God has said. And so you may be accused of being narrow-minded, of hating others, or of being foolish. But the Christian responds not with pride or being panicked that the world opposes them, but with steadfast assurance.

Remembering what it says, that let God be found true, though every man is a liar. And so the confidence and the answer that the Christian has is rooted in the fact that God's merciful and that he saves him and that we have his word and that our lives are lived on that foundation. The other answer that we have to someone who's slandering and opposing us is a godly life. In fact, this is one of the most powerful arguments that a Christian can have. When you live a holy life that's obedient to God, when you walk in obedience and you rejoice in trials, when you repay evil with good and endure reproach without growing bitter, it's an answer to the accusations of those who would slander you. It's an accusation to the shame that they want to heap upon you. When you trust in God, And in his mercy and in the salvation that he wrought. And it gives you peace. It allows you to respond with godliness to all the slander and the reproach. And that is an answer to them. It's heaping burning coals on their heads. And this is also part of the importance of having local people that you listen to. People whose lives you can see. Because...

Part of having a sure foundation is being able to see the fruit of the lives of the people around you. It's part of the answer to those who would reproach us. And we should note that the psalmist is not reacting out of fear or wounded pride when the people come and reproach and slander him. His response is because of his trust His answer flows from the word which is hidden in his heart. We saw that in verse 11, way back in that section, where thy word have I hid in my heart. We also see that the response comes from the delight that the psalmist takes in his commandments, which we'll get to in verse 47. Now, responding and answering is not necessarily an easy thing for us to do.

It's easy that when we are taking a stand for the word of God or when we see that we need to take a stand, we will want to compromise because we don't want to face the opposition of those around us. And we don't want to look crazy, do we? We don't want others to just think we're crazy. And so there's always this pressure when we're facing the world and we're taking a stand for the truth of God to want to skimp on the truth, to want to... hold it internally, but not speak of it to others. So we must keep God's word in us. And we must focus on the promise of his mercy and his salvation. That this will help keep us honest. It will help keep us in the truth. Now, notice that what he says in 43.

that I do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for I wait on your ordinances. And the idea of this waiting is not that he is just sitting on his hands, but it's more of the idea of a dependence, that you will not be able to withstand the reproaches and the slanders if you are not rooted and grounded in the word of God. Remember that the salvation that he speaks of is in accordance with the word. It's not this, outside Gnostic knowledge that's separate. It's all rooted and grounded in the word of God. And so we need to be dependent on God's word. We need to seek after it day after day. You think about people who are addicted to some sort of substance and how you start getting the twitches or the urges to satisfy that desire. And you just depend on it. And it's like, this is, This is what we should be with the word of God. That we should be dependent like someone who's dependent on smoking or alcohol or whatever this urge is. That they just have to keep ingesting it. Well, this should be us with the word of God. That we're dependent on it. That we cannot live without it. That we call on God to put his word in our mouths and to never remove it.

The natural outworking then of that is going to be what the psalmist gets into in verse 44. That if God's word is in us, if it's in our mouths, if it's part of who we are, if we're dependent upon it, the natural outworking of that is going to be obedience. And this verse is really striking because he says, I will keep your law continually, forever, and ever. And so it's this very, he's redundant. And his proclamations. That his obedience to God's word is not a temporary thing. It's not as it suits him. But he will obey forever and ever continually. So the result of keeping God's word in us is going to be obedience. A commitment to obedience. Because why? Not because of what we're going to earn. Or because of.

a works-based righteousness. Remember where the psalmist starts. Because of God's mercy and because God's loving kindness is sure, the psalmist doesn't merely obey God because of fear, but out of his confidence in God's mercy and the salvation that God has promised. If God preserves his word in us, then our lives must be given over to the obedience to him in that word. And so the result of a mouth, that is filled with truth, with the word of God, is going to be a life that lives in keeping with that word. The truth that dwells within the hearts and mouth must give rise to a desire to obey and the strength to obey. Obedience is not a matter of just determination, of like, I'm just gonna white knuckle it. No, our obedience is the fruit.

of a life that is rooted in the truth of God's word and is sustained by God's loving kindness. So if you're convicted and you just decide to just muscle through, you will fail. We can't just keep this obedience on our own. Obedience flows from the mercy and the salvation, which is the root of this prayer that the psalmist prays in this section. Now, the... It's obedience that results in something else. When we obey, it results in liberty. And I will walk at liberty for I seek your precepts. And so the psalmist is saying, well, now what I'm going to do is I'm going to seek and obey God. But then what happens is he receives liberty. And that is a really crazy thing to think about.

It's a truth that you remember in Corinthians that Paul writes, that spiritual truths can only be grasped by the revelation of the Spirit. The natural mind cannot comprehend this. To the natural mind, it sounds like a contradiction. Obedience brings freedom? When's the last time you heard that? That obedience would actually bring you freedom. But the believer... The one who has the Holy Spirit knows that this is true because we've experienced it. Freedom will come from obedience to God. Freedom will come from obedience to God. There's one of my favorite quotes from G.K. Chesterton is that if man will not be governed by the Ten Commandments, they shall be governed by the Ten Thousand Commandments. In other words, when we reject God's gracious law, we will not find freedom.

We will find ourselves under a harsh master. Mastered by addiction, guilt, shame, endless legalism. There are sort of two ditches that we can think of. When we think of, the scripture tells us that obedience will bring about freedom. But the world does not say that. And the world has, there's two ditches that the world will preach to us. One is a hedonist. One is a hedonist. Someone who just gives them over to all their desires. And they think that freedom, this is sort of maybe a libertarian idea, right? That you can do whatever you want. That true freedom is not having rules. It's allowing people to go the direction that they want and not being bogged down.

That they have a right. If they want to smoke and destroy their lives, if they want to do drugs and destroy their lives, if they want to drink, they can drink what they want to drink. That everyone should be able to indulge their fleshly desires and be slaves to their passions as long as it doesn't impugn on other people's rights. Let them go, right? And there's just this idea that is innate in us that if we just do whatever we want to do, we think we're free. We think that true joy will be found in indulging in our passions, whether it's sexual or it's physical or whatever the thing that Satan is telling you, that your flesh is telling you, just give yourself into this and it will bring you happiness. It will bring you joy, right? There's just sort of this hedonistic lie that liberty and freedom and joy and happiness will be found in indulging that passion.

However, what we see now is there's beginning to be a reaction against this, isn't there? That for many years our culture has sort of been given over to hedonistic pleasure. And now we're having the backlash. And what's happening? Now we're moving towards stoicism. That people are realizing actually being a slave to your passions is not a good thing. It doesn't actually bring happiness. So now we're going to have a reaction against that. The stoic is the man or the woman who strives to conquer their flesh by sheer willpower. However, their strength becomes a prison. They want to become detached from both fleshly desires and from pain. So this man will not enjoy food. He'll constantly work out and beat his body into shape. But they become a slave to their rules. You see, there's these two ditches.

One will be a slave to passions, one will be a slave to rules, and neither one of them have freedom. The one doesn't have freedom to eat a donut, and the one doesn't have freedom to stop eating donuts. And both of them are wrong. One is a slave to rules, and one is a slave to passion. But they're both slaves. Many of us will tell us that, many people will tell you that obedience is legalism, that it's slavery. But obedience to God is not slavery, but freedom, because it's obedience to our creator, our redeemer, our lawgiver, whose commandments are perfect, they're life-giving, and they're designed for your blessing. When you use things in the way that they're designed to be used, it's good for them, right? If you use your phone as a hammer, it's not going to go well. It's not what it's designed for.

When we don't live according to the laws and the rules that God has given us, you will suffer. God designed you, and then he gave us his word, which teaches us how to live in accordance with how he designed us to live. And so there will be no freedom or joy outside of living as God has taught us and given us to live. When we live in obedience to God, it will liberate us from tyranny. It will liberate us from slavery and corruption of the flesh. And it will prepare us to have joy in heaven. It will prepare us for that day when we go there. This is one of the most striking ideas that J.C. Ryle has in his book, Holiness. But he talks about if a person who could enter heaven, who had lived their whole life enslaved to sin, They would not enjoy it. They would not want to be there. That they have never learned to enjoy holy things. And so were they to be able to come to heaven, they would hate it. It's this idea that when judgment day comes, every tongue will confess and every knee will bow. Some will do it willingly and some will be forced to. It's not that they're suddenly repentant on the day of judgment. They still hate God. And the confession,

given by the wicked, is a forced confession. True freedom is not the absence of rules, but the presence of righteousness. The freest man in the world is the man who walks with God and delights in his law. Think about Enoch. He walked with God so closely he never even died. Think about that kind of freedom. The man who was so close he wasn't even bound by death. The man who obeys God is not dragged by his desires or crushed by burdensome rules. He walks at liberty because he walks with the Lord. And this is tied again to verse 41, where we see God's mercy and salvation according to his word, not according to our deeds, but according to his word. So our true obedience flows from a heart that is delighting in God's ways. Obedience is freedom. It's fueled by love and joy, not by mere obligation.

Have you ever felt, I think with parenting, think about with your kids. How many of you feel like you just have to find the perfect system, right? You want your kids to be a Christian, so you just got to find the perfect system so you can't screw it up. You just need to get all the right rules in place. Freedom is found in following God. It's not found in a checklist. It's found in loving God. And what you need to do is teach your children to follow God. Teach them to love God. Put the word of God in their hearts and in their minds. Teach it to them every day. Don't find some system from some woman or some man who will teach you the right way. But seek God's word. Read it. Study it. Teach them to delight in it. If they love the Lord and if God's word is in their hearts, then that's what they'll know to follow.

The psalmist continues, and he says this, I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be ashamed. I shall delight in your commandments, which I love. Now, this is very different than what the world teaches us, doesn't it? Because the world wants us to delight in self-expression. right? It's not me. That's not me, right? You got to find by your clothes, by your hair, by whatever. You just, you got to find ways to express your true you. What the psalmist takes delight in expressing is God's word and in speaking God's word. and in teaching God's word. And notice the progression from earlier when he's being reproached, and he's afraid of man's reproach, and now he's speaking boldly before kings. And why can he do that? Well, his boldness comes from the fact that he's already committed to obedience to God. There is nothing like living a holy life and fighting your sin, which lends itself to speaking boldly.

Obedience to God will help you be a bold witness to others. If you are living a life of sin and you're giving yourself over to sin, then of course you're not going to tell others about Christ. Of course you won't confront sin. You won't take a stand. How can you do it if they knew what your internet said, your internet history? If they saw the way you were treating your kids, if they saw the neglect that you give, then why would they listen to you about how they should parent their kids? Think about this. If Daniel wrote this, right? Think about how Daniel lived such a holy life that when they wanted to bring Daniel down, they had to make a law. They had to make a fake law in order to get him.

And think about the confidence that Daniel had to speak the truth before Nebuchadnezzar and before the world, the most powerful man, because his life was so blameless. What were they going to do? They had to get trumped up charges in order to even convict him. So think about your own life. If you would commit to continual... obedience forever and ever, how much authority and weight that would give you to speak into others' lives and to be a witness for Christ wherever you go. We've heard, you know, you hear people talk about the moral authority. There's a weight that comes from a person who lives righteously. And so the psalmist, by committing to obedience, by living righteously, has a weight.

where he is willing to go before kings and testify. How many times have you failed to lead in your home or to stand in front of your friends because of your own sin? And you were gonna say something and you stopped. You were actually gonna go and deal with your kid's sins and then you just stopped because you're like, I'm such a hypocrite. Well, confess your sin, deal with it. Go forward, live obediently, and deal with the sins. Don't neglect your duty. But if you live righteously, it will help strengthen your ability to lead your wife, to lead your children, to speak to your friends at school.

And notice he says that he's no longer afraid. He'll boldly speak before the kings, right? I will speak your testimonies before the kings. One time when I was in, I took a welding class, and I was up there, and I had talked with the professor a number of times, and I needed help on this piece of angle iron I was welding together, and I came into his office to ask him a couple questions. Another man was in the office, and the man was talking about abortion. And the teacher was like, wait, so talking to me, well, you're against abortion, right, because you're a Christian. I said, yes, I am. And he's like, well, what about capital punishment? If you're so pro-life, are you against capital punishment? I said, no, I'm not against. I am for capital punishment. I'm not opposed to it. He's like, really? Well, how would you reconcile those two things? And I was like, well, actually, I need to get my project going.

I just had this quick question. I dodged the question and I left because I didn't know how to answer it. And I went back and I was in this booth and I had my mask on and I'm praying as I'm welding it. I'm like, I should say something. I don't know what to say. And as I was praying about it, the Lord gave me words to say. So I went back and I told them and I shared the gospel with them. But remember, this is what the Lord promises to the disciples. That in that day, don't worry what you will say because I will give you the words to speak. And this is the psalmist. When you understand God's mercy and you understand his salvation and his word is planted deep in your hearts and it's not removed from your mouth and you're living a holy, righteous life, then when the time comes to speak, you won't have to worry about what to say. It will be there. It will be flowing out of a life that's been devoted to God.

that we'll trust in the promises of God, that when we come into those situations, he'll give us the words to speak. And then, in 47, I shall delight in your commandments. Have you ever thought that perhaps your depression, your sadness, your laziness, your discontentment in life might be due to your lack of obedience? That so often, the laziness in our lives or our discontentment actually just stems from the fact that we're not being obedient to God. And that if we actually sought after his word, we would find joy. The psalmist loves God and finds delight in him. Now, it's not always the case that our sadness or depression is linked to our sin. Often it is the case, and we should check that and see.

But it's not always. And Calvin makes room for this, and he says this. It is very true that the faithful, although they endeavor themselves all they can to obey God and to suffer him to govern them, yet for all that they are not void of marvelous griefs and vexations, that they are many times at their wits' end and know not what to do. But yet they come unto God. and they lay all their care upon him, as it is written in the 37th Psalm. And there they find themselves discharged and unburdened. And so go they daily on, for they are assured that God can never fail them. Behold, how we may be very well tempted with many sorrows and griefs. Neither can we be exempt from a great number of disquietnesses, but yet God will always unburden us of them. And so, part of this joy that the psalmist has, there's two things. One, the joy comes from living righteously and having an obedient life. The other comes from unburdening yourself of your problems to God and trusting in the fact that, as we've said, that he's merciful, that he has this loving kindness that goes from generation to generation, that he doesn't abandon those that he loves. Now, this last verse,

The psalmist goes on and he says, I shall lift up my hands to your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes. And so we see this final verse bringing everything together. The psalmist begins by seeking God's covenantal mercy, by seeking God's salvation. He depends on God's word. And then he moves on to obedience. This obedience, this meditating on God's word is not just internal. It's not just a mind thing. It actually is played out in his body and his actions. When you think about lifting hands, what do you think about? What is a sign of raising your hands? There's a lot of things that it could be. It could be a sign of surrender. It's a sign of fervor, of excitement.

It's like a little child reaching up to their father, begging to pick him up, to comfort him. It's an obvious movement. You can't very well hide when you're lifting your hands up, right? It's a very, very evident when your hands are raised. It's big and bold. It's expressive. Have you ever thought that worship is to be an active thing? It's not passive. Worship is not confined to your thoughts. True worship involves your body. Now, we don't worship as a show. We don't worship and put our hands up so that others will look at us and think how holy and spiritual we are. No, the psalmist is raising his hands because he delights in the law of God.

It brings him so much joy. It's like, you know, you've been in the football, the parties where you're watching football and your team does a touchdown and you're like, yeah, right? And you're excited. And this is the psalmist in the worship of God. When you come to worship, sing loud. Sing. It's the first step. Sing. Use your voices. I don't care how bad of a voice you have. Make a joyful noise. But sing loud. Lift up your voices. And don't just lift up your voices, lift up your hands. Literally. Take it literally. God gives us so many commands, and yet we're too good to follow them often. None of us should be too proud to raise our hands in worship. Again and again throughout the Psalms, he calls, he raises his hands. We're to lift holy hands up to the Lord. So lift up holy hands to the Lord. And it says holy hands.

If you're a hypocrite, don't do it, right? And if you're doing it for the pride and for others to look at you, don't do it. But listen, there's sort of this abandonment that comes with raising your hands, that you're giving yourself to God. No defense strategy starts like this, right? If you're going to defend, right? This is defensive because you're protecting your, right? This is open. You're opening yourself up to God. Maybe how we posture our bodies will teach our minds how we should approach to God. That we're integrated beings. And so open your body up and give yourself to God. Present yourself to God. Our bodies should be in tune with the words and the things that we're singing and doing. It's a whole worship.

We don't just give our minds to God. We don't just give our voices to God. But our whole body should be engaged in the worship of God. And we shouldn't be too proud to do the simple acts of worship, one of them being raising our hands. I think about when years ago, I don't know how old I was, 10, 12, something, in the church we were going to, and they began teaching on worship. And one of the things that we were encouraged to was to raise hands in worship. So I started raising a hand in worship. And I remember thinking at one point, well, I have two hands. Why not lift both hands? Like, take it a step further than one hand. And thinking like, wow. But what will my sisters think? Well, the reality is they don't think anything. They don't care.

Right? But that's how the thought role plays. And now it's like, no, if you love God, give your body into worship. Put all of yourself into it. And don't worry about what other people think. You're there to worship God. Now, he talks about meditation. And meditation and outward worship are not two things in conflict. Raised hands do not replace thoughtful engagement. They're an expression of it. They flow out from it. The psalmist is reflecting on God's statutes, and as he does, it brings him love and joy, and it leads to worship, which includes his whole body. So use your body as you worship. Worship is not simply mental. Give yourself work. Go home tired from worship. Our culture constantly wants to distract us and wants us to express ourselves, but not to stop and meditate.

And this verse, this passage gives us a better pattern. We engage the mind, our hearts become awakened, we obey, and our bodies are engaged with that. Well, start with God's mercy and salvation. Meditate on that. And from that, learn to trust God and to obey him. And when you do, you'll find that there's great freedom, more freedom than you can imagine when you give yourself over to obedience to God. And that will bring you so much joy. You'll be so joyful, you'll have to bear testimony to who Christ is. And you'll do it boldly because you're not hiding things. And it will lead you to worship. And not a stiff form of worship, but it will lead you to worship with your whole body, with your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Because that's what God deserves. Our lives.

Our speech and our body should all reflect the joy that we take in the law of God. Let's pray. Father God, we come before you and we thank you for the mercy that you show to us, for the loving kindness which you have displayed. And we ask that you would help us all to meditate on that, to find joy in that. We ask that you would give us a... greater love for you each day, and that this would be expressed in our lives and in our worship, that as we worship you, that we would use all of us, every part that you've given us, our heart, soul, mind, and strength in that work. We pray this in your son's holy name. Amen. Can the elders please come forward? Well, we have the joy today of celebrating the Lord's Supper.

If you were in Sunday school, we were talking about the three marks of a church, which are the preaching of the word of God, the right administration of the sacraments, and discipline. Now, I'm going to read the words of institution, which are found in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. And notice as we read through it, we have a picture of what the sacraments are. an explanation of them, and tied to it very closely is the idea of discipline. For I received from the Lord that which he also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was betrayed, he took the bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, this cup is the...

A new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink of it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself. And in so doing, He is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason, many among you are weak and sick and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, Wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home so that he will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come. Well, the mercy that the psalmist prays about is displayed here in this table. That the mercy that God had towards us so that rather, you know, we can't pay the penalty of our sin.

And so rather than trying to seek to do that, what God did is he sent Christ to come to be our perfect holy sacrifice. Because we're unable to fulfill the law. We're unable to do it on our own. And so what we have here represented is the body of Christ. This does not magically turn into God or to Christ. We're not. chewing up Jesus' body in a crass, carnal sense. Rather, this is a representation, a reminder of what Christ did. This wine is not literally Jesus' blood. It's a representation of his blood. It's a reminder to us that without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sins. That the shedding of blood was required.

But it had to be the right blood. It had to be a perfect blood. It had to be one without sin. It couldn't be animals that had to be sacrificed endlessly. Instead, we needed a one-time sacrifice that would pay for the penalties of our sins. However, this is not a mere remembrance. This is not something that, this isn't just a memorial service where we just think nice thoughts about the work that Christ did. But this is actually a means of grace. It's powerful when it is united to faith and to someone who has the Holy Spirit. The work that is done, the strengthening and the comfort that comes through communion comes through the work of the Holy Spirit by means of faith. This is a means of strength to help us fight against sin, to help us to draw near to God. It proclaims forgiveness.

It proclaims a unity with Christ. This is a family meal. This is a covenantal meal. This is a meal that is only for those who name the name of Christ. It proclaims the unity and the oneness because we have one cup and one bread. And it proclaims the great hope of the future, of the wedding feast to come when we will be united at the table of the Lamb and we will all be together as one. When the visible church, And the invisible church will merge into one. Now, when it comes to the sacraments, though, one of the marks of the church is discipline. And when it comes to the right administration of the sacraments, discipline is part of that. Because notice what Paul says, that we have to judge ourselves. That we have to see, are we proclaiming the truth or a lie when we come to this table?

Is our coming to this table a mockery of what it represents? Or are we coming as penitent sinners, repentant sinners, who have confessed their sins and are fighting and striving against them? Or are we coming saying we're one with Christ and yet our lives tell a different story because we're giving ourselves over to our sins and we're not repenting of them. We're not confessing of them. This table is only for those who are baptized, acknowledge the Lordship of Christ and the need of his cleansing. It's for those who have committed to a church, who are members there, seeking membership, who are not under the discipline of a church, but are in good standing. Then this table is open to you. I am not trying to discourage anyone who is truly repentant of their sin and who desires to eat at this table. Then this table's for you.

But we must examine ourselves that we're not living lies, that we're not living lives of sin where we claim Christ with our mouth but deny him through our actions. And so this meal is medicine for poor and sick, for those who find hope in Jesus, who hate their sin and are fighting it. Then this table is for you. Come and be welcome and be strengthened by the work that Christ did. So confess your sins, look to God alone for your salvation, and then be welcome. Let's pray. Father God, we come before you and we thank you for the mercy that is displayed in this table. We thank you that we feed on Christ and that we have his blood to cleanse us and purify us. We ask that we would live in that truth, that we would proclaim it.

We ask that you would help us to conform our lives more and more to you, that your word would be ever in our mouths and not depart from us. And Lord, we pray that this meal would strengthen us, strengthen us in our walk and in our talk, that we would glorify you. We pray this in your son's name. Amen. The body and blood of our Lord Jesus. Now I invite you all to come forward. We have officers on either side who would love to pray for your children and for you. So please bring them up. Even if they have not been communed, they can come up with you, and then the officers will pray for you. You can come forward. Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless free rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me underneath me all around is the current of thy love, leading onward, leading home to thy glorious rest above. Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus.

Spread his praise from shore to shore. How he loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore. How he watches o'er his loved ones. Died to call them all his own. For them he intercedeth. Watcheth over them from the throne. The deep, deep love of Jesus. Love of Jesus. Of every love the best. Tis an ocean vast of blessing. Tis a haven sweet of rest. Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus. Tis a heaven of heavens to me. And it lifts me up to glory. For it lifts me up to thee. Man of sorrows, what a name. For the Son of God who came. Ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Bearing shame and scoffing rude. In my place condemned he stood.

Sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah. What a Savior. Guilty, vile, and helpless we. Spotless Lamb of God was he. Full atonement can it be. Hallelujah. What a Savior. Lifted up was He to die. It is finished was His cry. Now in heaven exalted high. Hallelujah. What a Savior. When he comes, our glorious king, all his ransomed home to bring. Then anew this song we'll sing. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Amen. Let us pray. Father God, we thank you for this meal. We thank you for Christ and his work that's finished. We thank you that we no longer have to offer up weekly sacrifices and yearly sacrifices and all the paraphernalia of the ceremonial worship, but that that's all fulfilled in Christ. What joy and strength. We pray that this meal would strengthen us, that we'd be closer to you, more united to you, that as we go forth this week, we'd go forth with boldness and with zeal.

in the strength and power of Christ's name. We pray this. Amen. As we sing our closing hymn, the deacons are going to be taking up an offering for the poor among us, so we ask that you would give generously to that as you're able. Give glory to God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.