Hello. Let's take this time to go ahead<\/p>\n
and pray for Thailand.<\/p>\n
Foreign<\/p>\n
speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech.<\/p>\n
Amen.<\/p>\n
It's uh it's it's really an honor for me<\/p>\n
to be able to preach from this pulpit<\/p>\n
and it's very strange for me to preach<\/p>\n
in English and not in Thai. Um so it's<\/p>\n
so I might switch back and forth. Uh it<\/p>\n
might be a little confusing for me. Um<\/p>\n
so yeah so this is our family. Um uh my<\/p>\n
wife is Nat. She might actually might be<\/p>\n
recognized by some of of you as uh she<\/p>\n
is working at ICS. And uh the other<\/p>\n
special thing is that our our son who's<\/p>\n
on this side, he actually attends the<\/p>\n
same university that Achan Nuti attended<\/p>\n
as well. And so I I grew up in that<\/p>\n
area. And so I was a Cardinals baseball<\/p>\n
fan as as a Chani still is right now to<\/p>\n
this day. Um but uh we right now our<\/p>\n
family is serving at Gospel City Bangkok<\/p>\n
Church. It's really like a little sister<\/p>\n
church of Grace City. we share a very<\/p>\n
similar name and um has been serving<\/p>\n
there for a while and it's really been a<\/p>\n
blessing for myself and then Aan Ben who<\/p>\n
is the pastor uh the head pastor at<\/p>\n
gospel city to be working with Aan Nati<\/p>\n
and PB and uh and just a few others even<\/p>\n
here in in Grace City and so it's really<\/p>\n
a privilege for us and really an honor<\/p>\n
for me to be able to preach here from<\/p>\n
the pulpit so if you could just pray one<\/p>\n
more time as we go into the message I'm<\/p>\n
kind of nervous [clears throat]<\/p>\n
our heavenly father we lift up our<\/p>\n
hearts to you and we ask that you would<\/p>\n
speak to us as only you can that you<\/p>\n
would touch our hearts. Help us to<\/p>\n
understand your word and that we would<\/p>\n
respond uh with a heart of worship<\/p>\n
before you that we would rejoice in who<\/p>\n
you are and your character. So we lift<\/p>\n
up this time to you and we depend upon<\/p>\n
you. We pray for your spirit to move in<\/p>\n
our midst and to teach us as we pray<\/p>\n
these things in Jesus name. Amen. Okay.<\/p>\n
So we'll be reading from from Psalm 97.<\/p>\n
Um so follow with me as I read this. The<\/p>\n
Lord reigns. Let the earth rejoice. Let<\/p>\n
the many coastlands be glad. Clouds and<\/p>\n
thick darkness are all around him.<\/p>\n
Righteousness and justice are the<\/p>\n
foundation of his throne. Fire goes<\/p>\n
before him and burns up his adversaries<\/p>\n
all around. His lightnings light up the<\/p>\n
world. The earth sees and trembles. The<\/p>\n
mountains melt like wax before the Lord<\/p>\n
before the Lord of all the earth. The<\/p>\n
heavens proclaim his righteousness and<\/p>\n
all the peoples see his glory. All<\/p>\n
worshippers of images are put to shame,<\/p>\n
who make their boast in worthless idols.<\/p>\n
Worship him, all you gods. Zion hears<\/p>\n
and is glad, and the daughters of Judah<\/p>\n
rejoice because of your judgments, O<\/p>\n
Lord. For you, oh Lord, are most high<\/p>\n
over all the earth. You are exalted far<\/p>\n
above all gods. Oh you who love the Lord<\/p>\n
hate evil. He preserves the lives of his<\/p>\n
saints. He delivers them from the hand<\/p>\n
of the wicked. Light is sown for the<\/p>\n
righteous and joy for the upright in<\/p>\n
heart. Rejoice in the Lord, oh you<\/p>\n
righteous, and give thanks to his holy<\/p>\n
name. As we talk about this morning, I I<\/p>\n
I'd like for you to maybe pair up or<\/p>\n
talk to someone nearby you and and share<\/p>\n
with one another what is your favorite<\/p>\n
attribute or characteristic of God.<\/p>\n
Could you do that? Talk to one another<\/p>\n
and tell each other what is your<\/p>\n
favorite characteristic or your favorite<\/p>\n
attribute of God. Go ahead and share<\/p>\n
that with someone and explain and share<\/p>\n
with them why.<\/p>\n
Okay. I wonder so just if you could just<\/p>\n
shout out some of the things that you<\/p>\n
said. So just say it out loud. Just say<\/p>\n
out what is that characteristic that<\/p>\n
attribute of God that you that you<\/p>\n
really enjoy? Go ahead and say it out<\/p>\n
loud.<\/p>\n
>> Creator Godcy<\/p>\n
>> mercy<\/p>\n
>> justice<\/p>\n
>> sup supremacy<\/p>\n
>> sovereignty. Oo<\/p>\n
>> righteousness.<\/p>\n
>> Anyone else? Humor.<\/p>\n
>> Humor. Oh, that's a that's a pretty good<\/p>\n
one. Anyone else? I'm I'm actually kind<\/p>\n
of surprised. Maybe it's kind of telling<\/p>\n
of where your church is because mo but<\/p>\n
most people would think of talk about<\/p>\n
the love of God, the mercy of God and<\/p>\n
and and yet I heard like justice,<\/p>\n
sovereignty, and righteousness. Wow.<\/p>\n
This is Yes. This is why I was nervous<\/p>\n
preparing to preach here today. Um<\/p>\n
because I I think most for many many<\/p>\n
people when we think about the character<\/p>\n
of God, we don't always think of<\/p>\n
righteousness as one of the high<\/p>\n
attributes that we really enjoy, right?<\/p>\n
How many of us we say, \"Oh, I really<\/p>\n
delight in the Lord and his<\/p>\n
righteousness because he will bring<\/p>\n
justice and he will bring vengeance on<\/p>\n
all of my enemies and on his praise God<\/p>\n
for his righteousness.\" Many people<\/p>\n
don't necessarily think that way, but<\/p>\n
it's such an important important thing.<\/p>\n
And when we think about God and his<\/p>\n
reign and rule, it's an important thing<\/p>\n
especially when we face difficulties and<\/p>\n
challenges in our lives. So for example,<\/p>\n
when I remember maybe some of you if you<\/p>\n
remember this past March uh of this year<\/p>\n
when the earthquake happened, do you<\/p>\n
remember where you were when that<\/p>\n
earthquake happened? I remember I was<\/p>\n
sitting at Secon Square Mall and I<\/p>\n
thought it was a bomb that went off. And<\/p>\n
honestly, when I prayed about the<\/p>\n
attributes of God in that moment, I did<\/p>\n
not pray about God's love. I did not<\/p>\n
pray about God's forgiveness. I pray for<\/p>\n
God's sovereignty and his power to be<\/p>\n
known. And so in that way oftenimes we<\/p>\n
focus on the love and the mercy of God<\/p>\n
which are so important. But then these<\/p>\n
other aspects of God are so important as<\/p>\n
well especially when we think about<\/p>\n
things like justice and awesomeness and<\/p>\n
righteousness. And so when we look at<\/p>\n
today in in Psalm 97, we're going to<\/p>\n
actually focus on rejoicing in God's<\/p>\n
righteousness because as we as you are<\/p>\n
doing a series on the Psalms, uh I I was<\/p>\n
listening to a John's message last week<\/p>\n
and sorry I don't have a physics<\/p>\n
illustration today. Um but I was like<\/p>\n
whoa. Okay, that made me more nervous<\/p>\n
today. But but in your series and<\/p>\n
speaking about Psalm 96, 97, and 98,<\/p>\n
these Psalms are really talking about<\/p>\n
the world's king. And 96 and 98 really<\/p>\n
talk about delighting in when the Lord<\/p>\n
returns and what that's going to be<\/p>\n
like. But then in chapter 97, it it it<\/p>\n
really focuses on this this scary,<\/p>\n
awesome, huge side of God and his kingly<\/p>\n
rule. And so that word righteous<\/p>\n
actually used four times in this psalm.<\/p>\n
And so we're going to think and talk<\/p>\n
about what does righteous righteousness<\/p>\n
mean and and what does it mean that we<\/p>\n
rejoice in God's righteousness because<\/p>\n
it's not one of those things that often<\/p>\n
come up like that. So what we're going<\/p>\n
to do is we're going to look at three<\/p>\n
things. The righteousness of God, how<\/p>\n
God's righteousness exposes and shows<\/p>\n
our idols. And then the third one is<\/p>\n
going to be how we rejoice or why we<\/p>\n
rejoice in righteousness as it is. So if<\/p>\n
we start at the first one and talking<\/p>\n
about the righteousness of God in Psalm<\/p>\n
two, he establishes here that this<\/p>\n
righteousness is the foundation. That's<\/p>\n
really at the core core base of what we<\/p>\n
think about and who God is. And then he<\/p>\n
then goes on and explains about who what<\/p>\n
this righteousness means. So in fact in<\/p>\n
verse one it says he says the Lord rules<\/p>\n
and reigns. And as he talks about and he<\/p>\n
says the Lord rules and reigns, it's<\/p>\n
something he says that let the earth be<\/p>\n
happy and they'll rejoice at that. Now<\/p>\n
today in modern times and it's it's<\/p>\n
really really interesting in terms of<\/p>\n
even the passing of the queen mother and<\/p>\n
even as a nati said that it's really an<\/p>\n
end of an era as it is that in the world<\/p>\n
today when we think about sovereigns and<\/p>\n
kings usually it's kind of seen as a<\/p>\n
negative thing right like I'm not going<\/p>\n
to make a political statement here but<\/p>\n
but a couple weeks ago there were these<\/p>\n
big protests in America saying no kings<\/p>\n
and there's stuff going on in Thailand<\/p>\n
in other places in the world where in<\/p>\n
the world Today there seems to be this<\/p>\n
thing where people do not like the idea<\/p>\n
of kings and and and the idea of<\/p>\n
sovereign has kind of a negative feeling<\/p>\n
to that. But this idea of the Lord<\/p>\n
reigns is so important to understand<\/p>\n
what this means because this sovereignty<\/p>\n
as the Bible talks about that it's such<\/p>\n
an important part of God's character and<\/p>\n
it's such an very very um essential<\/p>\n
thing characteristic that we need to<\/p>\n
have. So in fact some people say that<\/p>\n
when we think about the sovereignty of<\/p>\n
God we can see God's omniscience meaning<\/p>\n
that he is that he knows all things that<\/p>\n
when we say God is sovereign and ruling<\/p>\n
over all things that he knows all things<\/p>\n
that nothing is ever a surprise for God<\/p>\n
right nothing is oh wait oh earthquake<\/p>\n
oh wait wait wait wait I forgot about<\/p>\n
that it's never like that for God to be<\/p>\n
sovereign he's also omnipotent a big<\/p>\n
word meaning that he is in control and<\/p>\n
he has power over all things, right? He<\/p>\n
controls all things and events. And so,<\/p>\n
as huge as the earthquake was in March,<\/p>\n
that God's power was in and working<\/p>\n
through that as well. But then one other<\/p>\n
characteristic that some people say is<\/p>\n
important to sovereignty is God's<\/p>\n
freedom in his sovereignty in freedom in<\/p>\n
that he can do what he wants and no one<\/p>\n
can tell God what to do. That makes him<\/p>\n
the ultimate sovereign and king because<\/p>\n
he knows all things. He has all power<\/p>\n
and he has the freedom to do what he<\/p>\n
wants to do. And that's such a very<\/p>\n
important thing, a very important<\/p>\n
characteristic of God being sovereign.<\/p>\n
And it's a very important aspect of what<\/p>\n
should be something to give us calmness<\/p>\n
and peace in our lives, especially in<\/p>\n
difficult times. Because without<\/p>\n
sovereignty, God's love and justice<\/p>\n
doesn't really have control. There's no<\/p>\n
power. There's no way that it can become<\/p>\n
alive in our hearts. And so this<\/p>\n
sovereign rule that God assures in his<\/p>\n
love and justice, it's allows that to<\/p>\n
come to us and to be one and a part of<\/p>\n
our lives. And so this sovereignty that<\/p>\n
we talked about here, it comes from and<\/p>\n
it's based out of his righteousness.<\/p>\n
Okay. Now if we go on back to this<\/p>\n
verse, it gives a picture. This<\/p>\n
righteousness, how huge and how amazing<\/p>\n
and how awesome it is. So if you look in<\/p>\n
verse three, it says, \"Fire goes before<\/p>\n
him and burns up.\" Notice that God is<\/p>\n
not the one that burns these things. I<\/p>\n
imagine like this. I imagine that like<\/p>\n
if a lion came into the room, everyone<\/p>\n
would move out of the way. In that same<\/p>\n
way, when God's presence comes, fire<\/p>\n
gets out of the way from God. It's like<\/p>\n
that. That's how huge and amazing God<\/p>\n
[clears throat] is. If you look in verse<\/p>\n
four, it says, \"His lightnings light up<\/p>\n
the world and the earth sees and<\/p>\n
trembles.\" The earth sees and trembles.<\/p>\n
Not God, but the lightning that God<\/p>\n
brings. The earth is afraid of the<\/p>\n
lightning. And and and not even talking<\/p>\n
about God. Even in verse five, it says<\/p>\n
the mountains melt like wax before the<\/p>\n
Lord. that in God's presence, as as as<\/p>\n
permanent as mountains may seem, that<\/p>\n
the mountains melt like wax in God's<\/p>\n
presence. That's kind of an amazing<\/p>\n
amazing picture. When many people think<\/p>\n
that this picture that is talked about<\/p>\n
here in Psalm 5, many people think that<\/p>\n
in this picture of righteousness that<\/p>\n
many say that this looks a lot like what<\/p>\n
happened uh in when Moses met with God<\/p>\n
at Mount Si. And the picture is really<\/p>\n
really similar. And other times when God<\/p>\n
meets with different people, it has<\/p>\n
similar things that happen. Something<\/p>\n
like this, like really incredible<\/p>\n
incredible things that happen. But<\/p>\n
what's so interesting is that for each<\/p>\n
of these times when humans meet and<\/p>\n
encounter this God, okay, and and and we<\/p>\n
read the not even the fire, we're<\/p>\n
talking about like when they meet God,<\/p>\n
uh and and even the fire moves out of<\/p>\n
the way from God that when they meet<\/p>\n
this God, people their typical reaction<\/p>\n
is fear, trembling, and they're gonna<\/p>\n
die, right? That's that's what happens<\/p>\n
when they're gonna face God face meet<\/p>\n
with God face to face. And that's such a<\/p>\n
common occurrence of what happens that<\/p>\n
when people see this awesome greatness<\/p>\n
of huggeeness of God, they their lives<\/p>\n
are shook. They are afraid and they're<\/p>\n
afraid they're going to die. And that's<\/p>\n
kind of what that does. And that's kind<\/p>\n
of something important that we need to<\/p>\n
understand about how huge this<\/p>\n
righteousness of God really is. And and<\/p>\n
and when we see this righteousness of<\/p>\n
God, it ought to be something to cause<\/p>\n
us to check what our reaction is if we<\/p>\n
see something like that. Right? Again,<\/p>\n
if a lion came walking into the room, I<\/p>\n
think a lot of us, some of us be like,<\/p>\n
\"Oh, that's so cute.\" Right? But I think<\/p>\n
most of us would be like getting ready<\/p>\n
to move. Okay? Some of us might take<\/p>\n
someone, put them away in front of them.<\/p>\n
I don't know. You might run over here.<\/p>\n
You might grab different things. But it<\/p>\n
really does it really does cause a<\/p>\n
response like even automatically when<\/p>\n
you see something great and as huge as<\/p>\n
it is. And in that way when we see<\/p>\n
something so great or something<\/p>\n
troubling or even difficult or fearful<\/p>\n
it really is a chance to put us to the<\/p>\n
test of of of what's really really<\/p>\n
important to us. Was it I I was trying<\/p>\n
to look so hard for these videos. I saw<\/p>\n
these videos of this video one time a<\/p>\n
while ago where a bear came and tried to<\/p>\n
grab a family, but then what happened is<\/p>\n
the dad the dad he took his child, moved<\/p>\n
out of the way and he ran past the child<\/p>\n
and left the bear with his child there.<\/p>\n
Okay, now if it was a mom, the mom grabs<\/p>\n
the kid and run away. But I was like,<\/p>\n
\"Oh man, this dude, you just totally<\/p>\n
made all dads look bad.\" Okay, because<\/p>\n
you just showed what's really really<\/p>\n
important to you in that moment of<\/p>\n
stress, right? So in that same way, what<\/p>\n
we see here in this psalm is that we can<\/p>\n
have an opportunity to see that this<\/p>\n
righteousness that it really does expose<\/p>\n
what's deep inside of our hearts. And<\/p>\n
and it's interesting how the psalmist<\/p>\n
brings that out in in verse 7. So if you<\/p>\n
look at this, it says, \"And the heavens<\/p>\n
proclaim his righteousness. All the<\/p>\n
peoples see his glory.\" So people see<\/p>\n
that. And then in verse 7, he speaks to<\/p>\n
their reaction. What did it show? How<\/p>\n
did they respond? What happened? And if<\/p>\n
you see here, it says, \"All worshippers<\/p>\n
of of images are put to shame who make<\/p>\n
their boast in worthless idols.\" It<\/p>\n
revealed that in their hearts, they had<\/p>\n
these idols in their lives. It revealed<\/p>\n
that. And that's something that's really<\/p>\n
challenging because even as he says here<\/p>\n
that those who were ashamed, their idols<\/p>\n
were exposed. When the righteousness<\/p>\n
came out, when the truth eventually<\/p>\n
comes out, they're able to see what's<\/p>\n
really going on in their hearts. Now,<\/p>\n
interestingly enough, I mean, we're<\/p>\n
talking about idols here, but I don't<\/p>\n
know if some of you may remember last<\/p>\n
year, uh, there was this big big big big<\/p>\n
scandal here in Thailand. And this<\/p>\n
company which was actually had so many<\/p>\n
like D um<\/p>\n
celebrities, okay, celebrities and<\/p>\n
famous people, doctors and others who<\/p>\n
were promoting this. People saw them as<\/p>\n
like net idols and like um entertainment<\/p>\n
idols and then they got involved in this<\/p>\n
trying to promote and then they got in<\/p>\n
trouble where it was a case of like<\/p>\n
money laundering. Uh these business<\/p>\n
executives were lying. There was<\/p>\n
political corruption, all these<\/p>\n
different things as these people were<\/p>\n
relying on their public reputations and<\/p>\n
all of a sudden the truth came out and<\/p>\n
then these people just like it was such<\/p>\n
a shameful shameful shameful thing as it<\/p>\n
was. And it was so interesting that<\/p>\n
these people as famous and successful as<\/p>\n
they were idols in the eyes of the<\/p>\n
culture here here in in our country that<\/p>\n
that that this thing really revealed<\/p>\n
this this big big big huge problem that<\/p>\n
they had to experience in their lives.<\/p>\n
and and you know and when the psalmist<\/p>\n
is talking about idols, I don't think<\/p>\n
it's necessarily talking about things<\/p>\n
like a big big scandal like this, okay?<\/p>\n
Because I mean, you go to great city and<\/p>\n
so I'm sure you hear about this a lot uh<\/p>\n
because we talk about this at Gospel<\/p>\n
City as well that the idols in our<\/p>\n
hearts aren't necessarily those those<\/p>\n
people on Tik Tockers or or YouTubers or<\/p>\n
whatever the stars, but the idols that<\/p>\n
we talk about are those things that are<\/p>\n
in our hearts. Now I think most of us<\/p>\n
would look at this list and would agree<\/p>\n
that these things are bad, right? And so<\/p>\n
the problem is is that when we like<\/p>\n
these things too much, that's the<\/p>\n
problem, right? So we all probably would<\/p>\n
agree that these are not good things in<\/p>\n
the eyes of God. But the thing is is<\/p>\n
that our hearts really like these<\/p>\n
things, right? We like these things.<\/p>\n
They may be big things. It may be small<\/p>\n
things. It may be subtle things. But we<\/p>\n
have these things to draw us and they<\/p>\n
create idols in our hearts. But this is<\/p>\n
the thing. The problem is sometimes<\/p>\n
those bad things, we all agree those are<\/p>\n
bad. But sometimes our hearts are drawn<\/p>\n
to good things, right? Also, and some of<\/p>\n
us may think, well, what what's wrong<\/p>\n
with that? Well, what's wrong with that?<\/p>\n
Well, if we look carefully at this,<\/p>\n
right? And the way that the Greek word<\/p>\n
it talks about this, the idea is the<\/p>\n
problem is not that we have a desire for<\/p>\n
these good things, okay? of wanting good<\/p>\n
grades, of being successful in your job,<\/p>\n
having a handsome wife for or we<\/p>\n
handsome<\/p>\n
boyfriend, okay, or a beautiful wife or<\/p>\n
great kids that as good as those things<\/p>\n
may be, the problem is not that we want<\/p>\n
them, but that we want them too much.<\/p>\n
That's the issue. And so even as good of<\/p>\n
a thing as it may be, the issue is is<\/p>\n
that when it becomes too big of a thing,<\/p>\n
especially when the Bible tells us to<\/p>\n
love Jesus, that our desire should be<\/p>\n
for Jesus. But what happens is in that<\/p>\n
moment of choice, we choose between that<\/p>\n
good thing versus Jesus and we decide to<\/p>\n
choose not Jesus but that thing. Now it<\/p>\n
has become number one in our hearts and<\/p>\n
that's really at the heart of idolatry,<\/p>\n
right? Idolatry is when we place<\/p>\n
something above Jesus in our love, in<\/p>\n
our value, in our lives. And so when the<\/p>\n
psalmist is talking about this, he's not<\/p>\n
just talking about this whole icon<\/p>\n
company scandal scheme, people going to<\/p>\n
jail and stuff like that. He's really<\/p>\n
really getting at talking about those<\/p>\n
things that when revealed,<\/p>\n
those things when revealed will bring<\/p>\n
shame to them because that's just kind<\/p>\n
of how it happens, right? I mean, I<\/p>\n
think that for most of us, if if not all<\/p>\n
of us, I if we just kind of took this<\/p>\n
little video X-ray thing and went around<\/p>\n
to show what's at the most important<\/p>\n
thing in your heart, I think that it<\/p>\n
might be something that we might not be<\/p>\n
too happy about, right? If I have my<\/p>\n
phone and I should love my wife number<\/p>\n
one and my but then all of a sudden she<\/p>\n
grabs my phone, she flips it open and<\/p>\n
it's some Instagram model or whatever.<\/p>\n
That's a major problem. Right? And it<\/p>\n
just reveals because of course I would<\/p>\n
be ashamed of that. And in that same<\/p>\n
way, there's something about deep deep<\/p>\n
deep deep deep in our hearts that when<\/p>\n
our attraction to these things, even as<\/p>\n
good as they may be, that when these<\/p>\n
things become too much and they become<\/p>\n
greater than our love for Jesus, that's<\/p>\n
the idol, right? We replaced Jesus with<\/p>\n
something else. And and as good as these<\/p>\n
things may be, the the the basic basic<\/p>\n
issue is is that we love something, some<\/p>\n
gift more than the giver, God himself,<\/p>\n
right? Every gift that comes from the<\/p>\n
heavenly uh heavenly uh heavenlies, it's<\/p>\n
comes from the father of lights so that<\/p>\n
we can know that it comes from him and<\/p>\n
not for ourselves but that these things<\/p>\n
that we have can lead us and point us to<\/p>\n
Christ rather than being stuck to these<\/p>\n
things in and of themselves. And that's<\/p>\n
really at the nature and at the heart of<\/p>\n
what's going on here as he talks about<\/p>\n
these people and uh what's being exposed<\/p>\n
in their hearts as it is here too. So<\/p>\n
that's something important. But<\/p>\n
something really interesting is that in<\/p>\n
verses 8 and N that the psalmist gives a<\/p>\n
picture of what it can look like for<\/p>\n
someone who really has Jesus and really<\/p>\n
has God at the forefront in their<\/p>\n
hearts. In verse 8 and N is kind of a<\/p>\n
contrast to verse 7 because in verse 8<\/p>\n
it says the person who rejoices in God's<\/p>\n
judgments. It talks about the person who<\/p>\n
has Jesus exalted far above all other<\/p>\n
gods. It's this is a picture of like<\/p>\n
someone who has God the Lord as number<\/p>\n
one in their hearts that that can<\/p>\n
happen. It can be there and it's talking<\/p>\n
about something that will happen in the<\/p>\n
future when we uh meet with the Lord in<\/p>\n
when we have a new heart in heaven. And<\/p>\n
so that's really one of the challenges<\/p>\n
as we think about that that if if we see<\/p>\n
this righteous God for who he really is,<\/p>\n
it ought to be something that reveals<\/p>\n
what's going on in our hearts and to<\/p>\n
show us is there anything in our hearts<\/p>\n
that is not pleasing to the Lord that we<\/p>\n
have a love for which is not Jesus is<\/p>\n
the opportunity to do that. And that's<\/p>\n
why it's kind of scary. It's kind of<\/p>\n
scary to to to really confront God<\/p>\n
because of the things it might reveal in<\/p>\n
our hearts and in our lives, but it<\/p>\n
really has to start there. That we have<\/p>\n
to be brave to be able to do that. But<\/p>\n
man, that's hard, isn't it? No one<\/p>\n
really likes having our dirty things<\/p>\n
trashed out. Every everyone is No one<\/p>\n
likes that.<\/p>\n
But that's such an important part of<\/p>\n
what can happen as we meet and see the<\/p>\n
righteousness of God.<\/p>\n
So what we're going to see here now is<\/p>\n
rejoicing in righteousness and see what<\/p>\n
the psalmist says and how he does that.<\/p>\n
This is really interesting and really<\/p>\n
challenging. In verse 10, he goes on and<\/p>\n
the psalmist says, \"Oh you who love the<\/p>\n
Lord hate evil.\" So he's kind of saying<\/p>\n
that hating evil is one of the marks of<\/p>\n
faith and love for God. But do we hate<\/p>\n
evil? Now I I know most of us probably<\/p>\n
aren't like, you know, like<\/p>\n
probably not like enjoy evil like ah<\/p>\n
like like that per se, but we really<\/p>\n
have to examine ourselves and what does<\/p>\n
it really really mean? Because I think<\/p>\n
it's a very natural thing for us to sin.<\/p>\n
So what I did was I actually found this<\/p>\n
uh person this old scholar his name is<\/p>\n
Richard Sibs and then he mar he<\/p>\n
determined the marks of genuine hatred<\/p>\n
of sin. Now this is during the Puritan<\/p>\n
times. So you know that these guys man<\/p>\n
they really thought it through<\/p>\n
but but I feel like definitely compared<\/p>\n
to me there's several levels of holy<\/p>\n
beyond me okay in terms of where they<\/p>\n
are and their love for God. And so<\/p>\n
Richard Sibs, he said this, the the way<\/p>\n
you can know if you hate sin is like<\/p>\n
this. He said, number one is that if you<\/p>\n
hate sin, it's universal. You hate all<\/p>\n
sins. Okay? It's not a matter of some<\/p>\n
sins are okay and somes are not, some<\/p>\n
are not, but you hate all sin. Okay?<\/p>\n
That's one. Um, the next one that he<\/p>\n
says is that it's fixed. Meaning that<\/p>\n
it's not about trying to appease or try<\/p>\n
to make sin easier or better to deal<\/p>\n
with. He says it's about getting rid of<\/p>\n
it. It's about killing it alto together.<\/p>\n
All right? It's not about well in this<\/p>\n
situation maybe, maybe not. But he says<\/p>\n
no, the way you go about it is just it's<\/p>\n
one way. And then he says that if you<\/p>\n
have a hatred of sin, then it's rooted.<\/p>\n
Meaning that it's not just a temporary<\/p>\n
thing. Okay? Like today I'm IN THE MOOD<\/p>\n
OF I REALLY HATE these kinds of things.<\/p>\n
It's kind of like it's kind of you know<\/p>\n
you like uh like how many of you are<\/p>\n
sick of hearing the K-pop demon hunter<\/p>\n
songs, right? Oh, okay. Sorry. I didn't<\/p>\n
mean to do that. Um, but it doesn't mean<\/p>\n
that one day you're okay and then one<\/p>\n
day you're not. But it's saying that<\/p>\n
it's so deeper. It's so much deeper that<\/p>\n
it's not just a temporary thing. And not<\/p>\n
also he says that it's not impartial. Um<\/p>\n
that uh that's not impartial. Meaning<\/p>\n
that you hate sin because sometimes you<\/p>\n
do this, right? We hate sin in other<\/p>\n
people, but that one in me, it it's not<\/p>\n
that bad. You know what I mean? Like<\/p>\n
that guy, he's got to repent big time.<\/p>\n
Me, mine's not that bad. It's okay.<\/p>\n
Okay, my wife's okay with it. That's<\/p>\n
okay. But he says it's impartial, right?<\/p>\n
There's no there's no favoritism in the<\/p>\n
way that we do that. He says also it's<\/p>\n
proportionate, meaning that you don't<\/p>\n
hate small sins but in others, but<\/p>\n
overlooking big sins in our lives. Oh,<\/p>\n
that's that's related to impartial part<\/p>\n
uh proportionate. And then the last one<\/p>\n
is that it's that you're teachable if<\/p>\n
you hate sin. meaning that if someone<\/p>\n
comes and challenges you about sin in<\/p>\n
your life that you're ready to confront<\/p>\n
it and to deal with it no matter how<\/p>\n
big, no matter how small.<\/p>\n
Now looking at this,<\/p>\n
the psalmist says the righteous, they<\/p>\n
hate sin.<\/p>\n
According to Richard Sibs, how are you?<\/p>\n
This is tough.<\/p>\n
This is really really tough. Some of<\/p>\n
these maybe I could get that on a good<\/p>\n
day.<\/p>\n
But every day I don't know. I I really<\/p>\n
don't know. And so to think about that<\/p>\n
it's like<\/p>\n
man that's tough. And you know what's<\/p>\n
tougher? Right after this the psalmist<\/p>\n
says light is sown for the righteous.<\/p>\n
Rejoice in the Lord oh you righteous. I<\/p>\n
I I think about this question. How much<\/p>\n
do I hate sin? And then the psalmist now<\/p>\n
calls me righteous.<\/p>\n
That doesn't really sit well with me. I<\/p>\n
mean, even me, I I I would be happy for<\/p>\n
people to think that I'm a good guy, but<\/p>\n
when I look at that and I really am<\/p>\n
honest about how much do I really hate<\/p>\n
sin and then calling myself righteous,<\/p>\n
I'd have a hard time doing that, right?<\/p>\n
Especially in front of other people. But<\/p>\n
the psalmist says he calls them the<\/p>\n
righteous. He calls me the righteous.<\/p>\n
Oh, that's that's tough. I mean, even my<\/p>\n
conscience bothers me to be able to say<\/p>\n
that. So, so, so how does that work? How<\/p>\n
does that work? Now, I realize I've been<\/p>\n
talking about righteous, but I never<\/p>\n
really gave a real definition. Okay,<\/p>\n
it's kind of the trick. Okay, so someone<\/p>\n
told me I learned before when I was in<\/p>\n
in Bible school that uh that that um<\/p>\n
righteous sometimes it has the idea of<\/p>\n
being related to being like a plum. Have<\/p>\n
you ever seen this? This is a tool<\/p>\n
that's got a weight on it and then it's<\/p>\n
got a string on the top. And so what<\/p>\n
carpenters or builders will use is they<\/p>\n
will use this to set the straight line<\/p>\n
for when they're going to build a wall.<\/p>\n
So for example, all right. Uh so for<\/p>\n
example, if I was building a wall and<\/p>\n
I'm laying down my bricks, all right,<\/p>\n
and then as I'm laying them down, I use<\/p>\n
this plum to tell me whether the line is<\/p>\n
straight or whether it's not straight.<\/p>\n
So this tells me it's not straight. So<\/p>\n
that's got to go, right? And so I got to<\/p>\n
put another one there. And then now it<\/p>\n
is straight or now it is righteous.<\/p>\n
Okay. So your wall over here is it<\/p>\n
righteous or not righteous. Okay. Well,<\/p>\n
this term is used with God and and many<\/p>\n
times we often think of righteous as<\/p>\n
holy, pure, morally perfect. That's the<\/p>\n
way often times we think of that. But<\/p>\n
the thing is the idea of righteous is<\/p>\n
not just merely moral perfection. Not<\/p>\n
just merely rightness. But interestingly<\/p>\n
enough, it means that you meet the<\/p>\n
standard of what's required. So in that<\/p>\n
sense, is God righteous? Yes, he meets<\/p>\n
that holy perfect standard for<\/p>\n
everything, right? In terms of justice,<\/p>\n
in terms of mercy, in terms of love, in<\/p>\n
terms of power. But more importantly,<\/p>\n
usually this word righteous in the Old<\/p>\n
Testament is used in terms of covenant.<\/p>\n
Meaning that if you are righteous, that<\/p>\n
means that you fulfill the requirements<\/p>\n
of the covenant promise of God. And does<\/p>\n
God do that? Yes. Perfectly.<\/p>\n
So in his covenant promise where he<\/p>\n
promises that that that he will be our<\/p>\n
God and that we will be his people. In<\/p>\n
his taking care of that and of that<\/p>\n
promise, he does that perfectly. And so<\/p>\n
this righteousness of God, this<\/p>\n
relational and communal sense of it, it<\/p>\n
means that in right relationship, in<\/p>\n
God's planning on on God's fulfilling<\/p>\n
requirements of the covenant that he<\/p>\n
does that 100%. But then we know in the<\/p>\n
history of the Old Testament and we know<\/p>\n
in the history of probably our own<\/p>\n
lives. Do we how do we do in terms of<\/p>\n
fulfilling this promise of God of hating<\/p>\n
sin, loving Jesus only, hating idols,<\/p>\n
loving him with all of our hearts,<\/p>\n
giving him our 100%. How do we do in<\/p>\n
that? We're not that great at that if<\/p>\n
we're honest. We're pretty bad actually.<\/p>\n
Really, really bad at this. So as the<\/p>\n
Lord is 100% completely righteous in the<\/p>\n
way he fulfills that that is done in the<\/p>\n
context of his relationship with us and<\/p>\n
that's something that's super super<\/p>\n
important that we need to understand. So<\/p>\n
that means that if he fulfills all the<\/p>\n
requirements of that what's interesting<\/p>\n
is that in verse 11 the psalmist he says<\/p>\n
light is sown for the righteous and joy<\/p>\n
for the upright in heart. That means<\/p>\n
sewing is like a farmer who takes seed<\/p>\n
and he puts something in there and then<\/p>\n
it grows. So then that becomes the<\/p>\n
righteousness. So that means the<\/p>\n
righteousness that we have as of as as a<\/p>\n
people of God doesn't come from our own<\/p>\n
but it comes from the Lord planting that<\/p>\n
in us and it growing through his grace<\/p>\n
and through his power only by that not<\/p>\n
because we did all the right things not<\/p>\n
because you you you uh give offering so<\/p>\n
much or church all these things or you<\/p>\n
pray so much not because of any of those<\/p>\n
things but to know that this<\/p>\n
righteousness comes because God is the<\/p>\n
one that plants that in us. And of<\/p>\n
course, we know that that happens when<\/p>\n
we think about this awesome, awesome<\/p>\n
glory and righteousness of God. We know<\/p>\n
that that's ultimately accomplished on<\/p>\n
the cross.<\/p>\n
That's ultimately accomplished where the<\/p>\n
God of the universe, he unclothed his<\/p>\n
glory to be born as a human to die a<\/p>\n
miserable death on the cross so that he<\/p>\n
could then achieve righteousness and<\/p>\n
give to us that righteousness as a gift.<\/p>\n
Not because we know how to hate sin, not<\/p>\n
because we do all these things, but by<\/p>\n
his grace as we come surrendered to him.<\/p>\n
And that's really as the key to how this<\/p>\n
righteousness works. So then, so then he<\/p>\n
can call us righteous. We who have<\/p>\n
terrible mouths like I on the drive<\/p>\n
here, I was complaining my wife to the<\/p>\n
car in my car all the time, the whole<\/p>\n
time to the about the cars. this<\/p>\n
terrible terrible mouth who's come here<\/p>\n
to speak share the word of God with you<\/p>\n
that that could be declared righteous<\/p>\n
only because of the blood of Jesus<\/p>\n
not because of what we've done on<\/p>\n
ourselves to know that that<\/p>\n
righteousness when we look at that<\/p>\n
should produce in us just this amazing<\/p>\n
amazing amazing amazing sense of<\/p>\n
response to him.<\/p>\n
You know, one of the things I I was<\/p>\n
watching this clip of um the lion, the<\/p>\n
witch in the wardrobe. And if you<\/p>\n
remember this really really famous line<\/p>\n
where it says Alan is a lion, the lion,<\/p>\n
the great lion. And then young Susan,<\/p>\n
she replies, \"Oh,\" said Susan, \"I<\/p>\n
thought he was a man. Is he quite safe?\"<\/p>\n
\"I shall I shall rather uh I shall feel<\/p>\n
rather nervous about meeting a lion.\"<\/p>\n
And of course, we would all be nervous<\/p>\n
meeting a lion, wouldn't we? But then<\/p>\n
this is what the response is. Mr. Beaver<\/p>\n
says safe. Who said anything about safe?<\/p>\n
Of course he isn't safe, but he's good.<\/p>\n
He's the king, I tell you. And here's<\/p>\n
the thing. I thought about this a little<\/p>\n
bit. He is good, but you know what? He<\/p>\n
is a king, a roaring king that will maul<\/p>\n
an enemy. But he will be safe and be<\/p>\n
good especially to those who have a<\/p>\n
relationship with him through Christ.<\/p>\n
I mean when we think about that the<\/p>\n
access that we have that we have to a<\/p>\n
god a powerful awesome lion but even<\/p>\n
greater than that as described in verse<\/p>\n
the first part of Psalm 97 as we see<\/p>\n
that awesome awesome God who's founded<\/p>\n
in righteousness and because of his holy<\/p>\n
character that he meets all the<\/p>\n
requirements of the covenant for the<\/p>\n
sake of our relationship his<\/p>\n
relationship with us and That<\/p>\n
awesomeness that he would stoop down,<\/p>\n
die on the cross for you and me. That is<\/p>\n
something to really be thankful for.<\/p>\n
You know, these days like we kind of<\/p>\n
very very kind of lovey lovey talk about<\/p>\n
love of God, but you know what? to to<\/p>\n
understand the love of God, it's it's<\/p>\n
really not as powerful until you realize<\/p>\n
how high he really is that he had to<\/p>\n
stoop down this low to demonstrate the<\/p>\n
love of God. When we understand the<\/p>\n
depth of our sin and how we don't<\/p>\n
deserve that love and how great he is,<\/p>\n
that love is now huge in our eyes and in<\/p>\n
our hearts and our understanding.<\/p>\n
That's why when we we can look at his<\/p>\n
great awesome power, his righteousness,<\/p>\n
and that we can surrender ourselves to<\/p>\n
him,<\/p>\n
that we can be brave enough to expose<\/p>\n
our hearts to him, and yet to understand<\/p>\n
that in that shame, with everything<\/p>\n
poured out, that that that that Jesus<\/p>\n
would die for that very, very sin in our<\/p>\n
lives. Man, that's reason to be<\/p>\n
thankful. That's reason to sing. That's<\/p>\n
reason to be happy to really.<\/p>\n
And that's why when we look at the<\/p>\n
righteousness of God, that's why we can<\/p>\n
then rejoice.<\/p>\n
And I want to challenge all of you. Some<\/p>\n
of you, your relationship with the lion<\/p>\n
is not really really there. And and and<\/p>\n
some of us think we just have to do<\/p>\n
things to try to appease the lion. BRING<\/p>\n
HIM GOOD FOOD. BRING HIM GOOD THINGS.<\/p>\n
And yet what we need to do is we need to<\/p>\n
come surrendered to him and let him be<\/p>\n
the king and let him touch us and change<\/p>\n
us. And in that relationship then now we<\/p>\n
can call him our good loving king. And<\/p>\n
that we can serve him, love him with all<\/p>\n
of our heart and that we would come<\/p>\n
surrendered to him and sing his praises.<\/p>\n
Let's pray.<\/p>\n
I would just like to invite you with<\/p>\n
your eyes closed for a moment<\/p>\n
that when you think of who our Lord God<\/p>\n
is,<\/p>\n
is he a fiery fiery awesome awesome<\/p>\n
presence<\/p>\n
or is he like this cuddly little teddy<\/p>\n
bear?<\/p>\n
Is he a lion?<\/p>\n
How do you feel? Are you scared?<\/p>\n
Which is a natural reaction.<\/p>\n
But then if you have that relationship<\/p>\n
with him knowing that he is your God,<\/p>\n
your father, and surrender to him,<\/p>\n
then he can be this<\/p>\n
unsafe lion.<\/p>\n
But that's good and loving to you.<\/p>\n
What is your right reaction to this<\/p>\n
righteous king? Is it fear or is it love<\/p>\n
and rejoicing?<\/p>\n
Won't you take a moment to come and to<\/p>\n
pray and just declare the things in your<\/p>\n
heart that are not pleasing to him as an<\/p>\n
act of hating that sin or whatever that<\/p>\n
is. Just be honest. Reveal it. Say it to<\/p>\n
him and then<\/p>\n
just claim and ask for that forgiveness<\/p>\n
to come and his loving kindness and his<\/p>\n
faithfulness to you.<\/p>\n
Would you take a moment just to pray<\/p>\n
silently and then I'm going to close for<\/p>\n
us before we finish with a song.<\/p>\n
Oh heavenly king, you are the one and<\/p>\n
only ruler of all the universe.<\/p>\n
Many of us have maybe bad ideas of what<\/p>\n
it means to be under a king. But help us<\/p>\n
to know that Lord, you are the good. You<\/p>\n
are the powerful king, but you are a<\/p>\n
good king. that you are scary, terrible<\/p>\n
in your power, but that because of Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ that we can call you father.<\/p>\n
We ask that you would teach us to learn<\/p>\n
what it is to look at your righteousness<\/p>\n
with joy in our hearts. that we'll be<\/p>\n
ready to surrender our struggles and<\/p>\n
doubts and questions and the idols that<\/p>\n
we have in our hearts, the things of<\/p>\n
other things that we love. That you<\/p>\n
would teach us how to compare these<\/p>\n
things with you to see how great and<\/p>\n
awesome you are and yet how kind and<\/p>\n
merciful and loving you are. and that it<\/p>\n
would draw us to have a heart of thanks<\/p>\n
and that we would just want to love you<\/p>\n
with all of our hearts in no matter what<\/p>\n
way we can. So we pray that you would<\/p>\n
help us to learn what it means to look<\/p>\n
at your righteousness<\/p>\n
to be ready to be revealed what's in our<\/p>\n
hearts but then also then to respond<\/p>\n
with a heart of rejoicing and praise to<\/p>\n
you. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20251029","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VpEvpeJwVDU","video_id":"VpEvpeJwVDU","video_duration":"40:37","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=112"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions\/113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}