uh Psalm 89 is a interesting Psalm uh<\/p>\n
because it combines a hym of Praise with<\/p>\n
a lament and a lament in the psalm is a<\/p>\n
poem or a song that expresses uh deep<\/p>\n
sorrow or some type of complaint in<\/p>\n
Psalm 89 that the hymn comes first in<\/p>\n
order to help us understand the lament<\/p>\n
and so we're supposed to use the hymn as<\/p>\n
a GU or a tool um during times when we<\/p>\n
wrestle with God's promises<\/p>\n
one of our uh favorite books to read to<\/p>\n
our children is titled big truths for<\/p>\n
little<\/p>\n
kids and the book's two main characters<\/p>\n
are Caleb and Cassie they are siblings<\/p>\n
and each chapter is a story about some<\/p>\n
experience that they have throughout the<\/p>\n
day and one day Caleb and his friend uh<\/p>\n
James they go to visit James's dad at<\/p>\n
his office and James dad owns a a huge<\/p>\n
candy company and he has promised to to<\/p>\n
take the boys and to give a tour to the<\/p>\n
boys so that they can go and see what<\/p>\n
the The Candy Factory is<\/p>\n
like um the candy company has a main<\/p>\n
office uh downtown on the the the top of<\/p>\n
a high-rise building and the two young<\/p>\n
boys enter the building and take the<\/p>\n
elevator to the top and they walk to the<\/p>\n
door of James dad's office and James<\/p>\n
goes to reach for the door knob and<\/p>\n
Caleb asks him are you sure that we can<\/p>\n
go in James response is yes I'm sure my<\/p>\n
dad loves me and he has told me that I<\/p>\n
can come in anytime that I want to and<\/p>\n
so they enter James's dad's office to to<\/p>\n
find him in an important meeting with<\/p>\n
the top Executives of the candy<\/p>\n
company and James he runs and hugs his<\/p>\n
dad and his dad hugs him but Caleb stays<\/p>\n
at the door because he doesn't know<\/p>\n
James's dad he doesn't know what how he<\/p>\n
will respond because he in this<\/p>\n
important<\/p>\n
meeting James's dad was was in an<\/p>\n
important meeting and he told the<\/p>\n
executives we'll have to postpone our<\/p>\n
meeting today for another time because<\/p>\n
I've promised my son I will take him and<\/p>\n
his friend for a tour of the Candy<\/p>\n
Factory James's dad was in an important<\/p>\n
meeting but because he loves his son he<\/p>\n
postponed the meeting to make good on<\/p>\n
his promise<\/p>\n
Caleb had stopped at the door because he<\/p>\n
didn't know James's dad and how he would<\/p>\n
respond but James on the other hand he<\/p>\n
knew his dad's love for him and that his<\/p>\n
dad would cancel the meeting because he<\/p>\n
had promised him the candy factory<\/p>\n
tour and so we'll see in our text this<\/p>\n
afternoon that God's covenant<\/p>\n
faithfulness and love for his son Jesus<\/p>\n
assures us that he will fulfill all of<\/p>\n
his kingdom promises he has made to us<\/p>\n
so with this in mind let's look at our<\/p>\n
text for this<\/p>\n
afternoon I will sing of the steadfast<\/p>\n
love of the Lord forever with my mouth I<\/p>\n
will make known your faithfulness to all<\/p>\n
generations for I said steadfast love<\/p>\n
will be build up forever in the heavens<\/p>\n
you will establish your faithfulness you<\/p>\n
have said I have made a covenant with my<\/p>\n
chosen one I have sworn to David my<\/p>\n
servant I will establish your Offspring<\/p>\n
forever ever and build your throne for<\/p>\n
all<\/p>\n
generations let the heavens praise your<\/p>\n
wonders oh lord your faithfulness in the<\/p>\n
Assembly of the Holy ones for who in the<\/p>\n
skies can be compared to the Lord who<\/p>\n
among the Heavenly beings is like the<\/p>\n
Lord a god greatly to be feared in the<\/p>\n
counsel of the Holy ones and awesome<\/p>\n
above all who are around<\/p>\n
him oh Lord God of hosts who is mighty<\/p>\n
as you are oh Lord with your faith fa<\/p>\n
fness all around you you rule the Raging<\/p>\n
of the sea when its waves rise you steal<\/p>\n
them you crush Rahab like a carcass you<\/p>\n
scattered your enemies with your Mighty<\/p>\n
arm the heavens are yours the Earth also<\/p>\n
is yours the world and all that is in in<\/p>\n
it you have founded them the North and<\/p>\n
the South you have created them tabar<\/p>\n
and Herman joyously praise your name you<\/p>\n
have a mighty arm arm strong is your<\/p>\n
hand High your right hand righteousness<\/p>\n
and Justice are the foundation of your<\/p>\n
throne steadfast love and faithfulness<\/p>\n
go before you blessed are the people who<\/p>\n
know the feal shout who walk O Lord in<\/p>\n
the light of your face who exalt in your<\/p>\n
name all the day and in your<\/p>\n
righteousness are exalted for you are<\/p>\n
the glory of their strength by your<\/p>\n
favor our horn is exalted for our Shield<\/p>\n
be Belongs to the Lord are keing to the<\/p>\n
Holy One of Israel of old you spoke in a<\/p>\n
vision to your Godly one and said I have<\/p>\n
granted help to one who is mighty I have<\/p>\n
exalted one chosen from the people I<\/p>\n
have found David my servant with my holy<\/p>\n
oil I have anointed him so that my hand<\/p>\n
shall be established with him my arm<\/p>\n
also shall strengthen him the enemy<\/p>\n
shall not outwit him the wicked shall<\/p>\n
not humble him I will crush his foes<\/p>\n
before for him and strike down those who<\/p>\n
hate him my faithfulness and my<\/p>\n
steadfast love shall be with him and in<\/p>\n
my name shall his horn be exalted I will<\/p>\n
set his hand on the sea and his right<\/p>\n
hand on the rivers he shall cry to me<\/p>\n
you are my father my God and the rock of<\/p>\n
my salvation and I will make him the<\/p>\n
firstborn the highest of the kings of<\/p>\n
the earth my steadfast love I will keep<\/p>\n
for him forever and my Covenant will<\/p>\n
stand firm for him I will establish his<\/p>\n
offspring forever and his throne as the<\/p>\n
days of the heavens if his children<\/p>\n
forsake my law and do not walk according<\/p>\n
to my rules if they violate my statutes<\/p>\n
and do not keep my Commandments then I<\/p>\n
will punish their transgression with a<\/p>\n
rod and their iniquity with stripes but<\/p>\n
I will not remove from him my steadfast<\/p>\n
love or be false to my<\/p>\n
faithfulness I will not violate my<\/p>\n
Covenant or alter the word that went<\/p>\n
forth from my lips once for all I have<\/p>\n
sworn by my Holiness I will not lie to<\/p>\n
David his offspring shall endure forever<\/p>\n
his throne as long as the sun before me<\/p>\n
like the Moon it shall be established<\/p>\n
forever a faithful witness in the<\/p>\n
skies but now you have cast off and<\/p>\n
rejected you were full of Wrath against<\/p>\n
your anointed you have renounced the<\/p>\n
Covenant with your your servant you have<\/p>\n
defiled his crown in the dust you have<\/p>\n
breached all his walls you have laid his<\/p>\n
strongholds in Ruins all who pass by<\/p>\n
plunder him he has become the scorn of<\/p>\n
his neighbors you have exalted the right<\/p>\n
hand of his foes you have made all his<\/p>\n
enemies Rejoice you have also turned<\/p>\n
back the edge of his sword and you have<\/p>\n
not made him stand in battle you have<\/p>\n
made his Splendor to cease and cast his<\/p>\n
thr to the ground you have cut short the<\/p>\n
days of his youth you had covered him<\/p>\n
with shame how long oh Lord will you<\/p>\n
hide your face forever how long will<\/p>\n
your wrath burned like fire remember how<\/p>\n
short My Time is what man can live and<\/p>\n
never see death who can deliver his soul<\/p>\n
from the power of shol Lord where is<\/p>\n
your steadfast love of old which by your<\/p>\n
faithfulness you swore to David remember<\/p>\n
oh Lord how your servants are mocked and<\/p>\n
how I bear in my heart that insults of<\/p>\n
all the many nations with which your<\/p>\n
enemies mock oh Lord with which they<\/p>\n
mock the footsteps of your<\/p>\n
anointed blessed be the Lord forever<\/p>\n
amen and<\/p>\n
amen the grass withers and the flower<\/p>\n
Fades but the word of Our Lord stands<\/p>\n
forever let's look first at the the hymn<\/p>\n
In Our Psalm and see what it teaches us<\/p>\n
about God the first thing teaches us<\/p>\n
about God is that God is mighty and that<\/p>\n
he rules over all<\/p>\n
things in verse n we<\/p>\n
read you rule the Raging of the sea when<\/p>\n
its waves rise you steal them and so the<\/p>\n
psalmist says the Lord rules over the<\/p>\n
Sea's waves and he is showing that God<\/p>\n
is in control of the sea god is<\/p>\n
governing the sea the Lord has power<\/p>\n
over the sea which is one of the most<\/p>\n
powerful n uh forces in nature and since<\/p>\n
God is in control of one of the most<\/p>\n
powerful forces in nature it shows us<\/p>\n
that he is in control of all things in<\/p>\n
nature next we see in verse 10 you crush<\/p>\n
Rahab like a carcass you scattered your<\/p>\n
enemies with your Mighty<\/p>\n
arm Rahab was a nickname for Egypt and<\/p>\n
so the psalmist is most likely referring<\/p>\n
to Egypt since Egypt was a great power<\/p>\n
during that time<\/p>\n
the psalmist is showing us that the Lord<\/p>\n
has control over even the mightiest of<\/p>\n
Nations even the strongest of<\/p>\n
nations in verses 11 through1 13 we read<\/p>\n
the heavens are yours the Earth also is<\/p>\n
yours the world and all that is in it<\/p>\n
you have founded them the North and the<\/p>\n
South you have created them tabar and<\/p>\n
Herman joyously praise your name you<\/p>\n
have a mighty arm strong as your hand<\/p>\n
High your right hand<\/p>\n
and so God is the owner of all things<\/p>\n
and he does as he pleases with his<\/p>\n
creation Now psalmist understands God is<\/p>\n
in control of all things and that God is<\/p>\n
is working all things according to his<\/p>\n
plan and God's<\/p>\n
Desires in verses 38 through 35 or 45<\/p>\n
the pmates acknowledges that even the<\/p>\n
DraStic situation that they are in is<\/p>\n
part of God's plan and is part of God's<\/p>\n
control almost every one of the verses<\/p>\n
that we see in verses 38- 45 has God as<\/p>\n
the subject doing the<\/p>\n
action you you have breached all of his<\/p>\n
walls you have laid his strongholds in<\/p>\n
ruin you have exalted the right hand of<\/p>\n
his foes and so the psalmist is showing<\/p>\n
us that God has power and control over<\/p>\n
all things which means that he has the<\/p>\n
power and the ability to give us all<\/p>\n
that he has promised<\/p>\n
us and in the case of this Lament<\/p>\n
provide the protection and the security<\/p>\n
from our enemies that we all<\/p>\n
desire we also see in verse uh<\/p>\n
14 after the uh psalmist has established<\/p>\n
that God is ruling over everything he<\/p>\n
looks at how God rules in verse 14 we<\/p>\n
read righteousness and Justice are the<\/p>\n
foundation of your<\/p>\n
throne and so the Lord rules in a<\/p>\n
righteous and in a just way<\/p>\n
this means that he will not rule and act<\/p>\n
in an evil way so we can trust that his<\/p>\n
actions and his words are meant for good<\/p>\n
we can trust that all of his promises<\/p>\n
are true and that he will fulfill all of<\/p>\n
them because of his uh righteousness and<\/p>\n
his<\/p>\n
Justice the psalmist also mentions God's<\/p>\n
steadfast love and faithfulness in verse<\/p>\n
14 steadfast love and faithfulness go<\/p>\n
before<\/p>\n
you God's steadfast love and<\/p>\n
faithfulness speak to his promises to us<\/p>\n
we are God's people and as we will see<\/p>\n
nothing will keep God from pouring out<\/p>\n
his love upon us and being faithful to<\/p>\n
his promises he has made to us not even<\/p>\n
our sin and<\/p>\n
unworthiness God's characteristics that<\/p>\n
are described in verse 14 prove to us<\/p>\n
that he is trustworthy and<\/p>\n
reliable and uh as you have experienced<\/p>\n
this is a a very long Psalm and the<\/p>\n
writer has taken up a lot of space to<\/p>\n
communicate to us about God's<\/p>\n
character and why did he do<\/p>\n
this it is because as we will see later<\/p>\n
God's character is the Firm Foundation<\/p>\n
on which we place our hope that God will<\/p>\n
fulfill all of his promises to us the<\/p>\n
psalmist is building a case like a<\/p>\n
lawyer might do for why we can trust in<\/p>\n
the Lord<\/p>\n
God's promises are only as good as his<\/p>\n
character and so we want to know God's<\/p>\n
character well so that when life gets<\/p>\n
rough and God's promises don't seem to<\/p>\n
make sense that we can trace them back<\/p>\n
to his character as our sure and steady<\/p>\n
foundation and know that we can trust in<\/p>\n
his promises because we know that we can<\/p>\n
trust him knowing God's character it<\/p>\n
strengthens our faith and our hope in<\/p>\n
God's promises<\/p>\n
and now that we've looked at at our god<\/p>\n
let's look at his<\/p>\n
promises in verses 19 through 37 we read<\/p>\n
about the Covenant promises that God<\/p>\n
made to his people God promised to to<\/p>\n
show favor to his anointed one David and<\/p>\n
his line of kingly<\/p>\n
descendants and in blessing the anointed<\/p>\n
one in the line of descendants he would<\/p>\n
bless all of the nation of<\/p>\n
Israel he would make Israel the the<\/p>\n
greatest nation among all the nation<\/p>\n
because of his love for the anointed one<\/p>\n
and he promised that he would provide<\/p>\n
security from their enemies because of<\/p>\n
his faithfulness to the anointed one and<\/p>\n
he promised that he would never back out<\/p>\n
of the promises he had made to them no<\/p>\n
matter what happened which again was<\/p>\n
based on his love for the anointed<\/p>\n
one all the promises that God made to<\/p>\n
Israel that we see in our text today<\/p>\n
they apply to us because all the<\/p>\n
promises were ultimately pointing<\/p>\n
forward to Jesus and his<\/p>\n
kingdom and these verses paint a basic<\/p>\n
but a very beautiful picture of how<\/p>\n
great Christ's Kingdom will be when he<\/p>\n
returns Christ will rule and reign in a<\/p>\n
way that provides complete Security from<\/p>\n
our enemies and there will be peace<\/p>\n
throughout the<\/p>\n
kingdom Christ will be exalted among the<\/p>\n
Nations he will sit on his throne<\/p>\n
forever and we will worship him forever<\/p>\n
and as I I mentioned earlier this Psalm<\/p>\n
combines a hym of Praise with a<\/p>\n
lament and so now uh let's look at the<\/p>\n
the the lament part of this<\/p>\n
Psalm let's look at verses 30 through<\/p>\n
32 if his children forsake my law and do<\/p>\n
not W walk according to my rules if they<\/p>\n
violate my statutes and do not keep my<\/p>\n
Commandments then I will punish their<\/p>\n
transgression with The Rock<\/p>\n
and their iniquity was<\/p>\n
stripes and so all the the blessings<\/p>\n
that God promised in the Covenant he<\/p>\n
made with David they center around God<\/p>\n
showing his steadfast love and<\/p>\n
faithfulness to the kingly line of<\/p>\n
descendants the future kings of Israel<\/p>\n
they must obey God's law for Israel to<\/p>\n
experience all the blessings of the<\/p>\n
Covenant if they did not then the nation<\/p>\n
as a whole would suffer and this is what<\/p>\n
has happened in this Psalm that the<\/p>\n
Kings who came after David they didn't<\/p>\n
walk in the ways of the Lord as we see<\/p>\n
in verse 46 the Wrath of the Lord burned<\/p>\n
against<\/p>\n
them and so our our problem as God's<\/p>\n
people is that we are<\/p>\n
sinful Romans 3:10 through2 makes this<\/p>\n
clear as it is written none is righteous<\/p>\n
no not one no one understands no one<\/p>\n
seeks for God<\/p>\n
so the problem in Psalm 89 is that the<\/p>\n
is not that the Lord has been unfaithful<\/p>\n
to his Covenant promises the problem is<\/p>\n
the unfaithfulness of the anointed<\/p>\n
Kings the problem is a failure of human<\/p>\n
kingship and so what do we need we need<\/p>\n
a righteous King can who can obey all of<\/p>\n
God's Commandments and represent us<\/p>\n
before the Lord and for God to fulfill<\/p>\n
his Covenant promises he must provide a<\/p>\n
righteous King to rule over us because<\/p>\n
we cannot provide one for<\/p>\n
ourselves and this lament like many of<\/p>\n
the other laments in the The Book of<\/p>\n
Psalms is filled with pain and confusion<\/p>\n
and difficulty of living in the broken<\/p>\n
world that we live in but in the midst<\/p>\n
of all this there is hope and so look<\/p>\n
let's look now at where our hope is<\/p>\n
found where do we find Our Hope in this<\/p>\n
psalm<\/p>\n
in verses 30-32 we saw the consequences<\/p>\n
for the future King's<\/p>\n
Disobedience and right after this in<\/p>\n
verse uh right after verse 32 we see God<\/p>\n
reaffirm his promise to<\/p>\n
David in verses uh 33 through<\/p>\n
37 we read but I will not remove from<\/p>\n
him my steadfast love or be false to my<\/p>\n
Covenant or alter the word that that<\/p>\n
went forth from my lips once for all I<\/p>\n
have sworn by my Holiness I will not lie<\/p>\n
to David his offspring shall endure<\/p>\n
forever his throne as long as the sun<\/p>\n
before me like the Moon it shall be<\/p>\n
established forever a faithful witness<\/p>\n
in the skies and so we find Our Hope in<\/p>\n
this text from God's character<\/p>\n
specifically in his steadfast love and<\/p>\n
his faithfulness for his anointed one<\/p>\n
the Lord has made a promise and swor an<\/p>\n
oath to David and he will not break it<\/p>\n
because that is not who God<\/p>\n
is and God continued to to give his<\/p>\n
people hope-filled messages like<\/p>\n
Jeremiah 23 5-6 while they waited for<\/p>\n
him to restore the kingship in the<\/p>\n
Kingdom behold the days are coming<\/p>\n
declares the Lord when I will raise up<\/p>\n
for David A righteous branch and he<\/p>\n
shall reign as king and deal wisely and<\/p>\n
shall execute Justice and righteousness<\/p>\n
in the land in his days Judah will be<\/p>\n
saved and Israel will dwell securely and<\/p>\n
this is the name by which he will be<\/p>\n
called the Lord is our<\/p>\n
righteousness and when we get to to the<\/p>\n
New Testament we see the arrival of our<\/p>\n
righteous King God had promised in Acts<\/p>\n
1322 through 23 we read and when he had<\/p>\n
removed him he raised up David to be<\/p>\n
their king of whom he testified and said<\/p>\n
said I have found in David the son of<\/p>\n
Jesse a man after my heart who will do<\/p>\n
all my will of this man's Offspring God<\/p>\n
has brought to Israel a savior Jesus as<\/p>\n
he<\/p>\n
promised and so God has provided the the<\/p>\n
righteous King that we need and he has<\/p>\n
proven his steadfast love and his<\/p>\n
faithfulness to his anointed one Jesus<\/p>\n
and so we can trust him to make good on<\/p>\n
all the other promises that he has given<\/p>\n
to us in Scripture<\/p>\n
because we have seen God's steadfast<\/p>\n
love and faithfulness to provide the<\/p>\n
king that we<\/p>\n
need and Christ is our our righteous<\/p>\n
king and the Lord will never reject him<\/p>\n
as he did the other Kings of Israel that<\/p>\n
broke his<\/p>\n
law God is well pleased with him and<\/p>\n
will fulfill every one of his promises<\/p>\n
he has made to us because of his<\/p>\n
pleasure in his son Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ and let's look last ly at our<\/p>\n
weight this Psalm gives Israel great<\/p>\n
hope but it doesn't give Israel a<\/p>\n
resolution the psalm ends with Israel<\/p>\n
Waiting for God to to answer their<\/p>\n
prayer to restore the the kingship and<\/p>\n
the<\/p>\n
kingdom and we are like God's people in<\/p>\n
the psalmist day that we too are waiting<\/p>\n
for God to fulfill all of his kingdom<\/p>\n
promises and as we wait we can struggle<\/p>\n
with God's<\/p>\n
promises we can un struggle to<\/p>\n
understand how God will fulfill them to<\/p>\n
us we can encounter a paradox like the<\/p>\n
psalmist and struggle to see how God's<\/p>\n
promises and our experiences though<\/p>\n
seemingly at odds with each other can<\/p>\n
dovetail and fit perfectly together and<\/p>\n
we can also struggle to believe that<\/p>\n
they are<\/p>\n
true and so what do we do whenever we<\/p>\n
struggle with God's<\/p>\n
promises when we are struggling to<\/p>\n
understand and believe God's promises we<\/p>\n
need to meditate on God's character and<\/p>\n
this is why the psalmist has placed the<\/p>\n
hymn before the lament in this Psalm the<\/p>\n
first part of this Psalm which is the<\/p>\n
hymn of praise is meant to be a tool or<\/p>\n
a guide for this<\/p>\n
lament when we are struggling with God's<\/p>\n
kingdom promises one of the first things<\/p>\n
that we should do is pull out a Psalm<\/p>\n
like Psalm 89 that speaks of God's<\/p>\n
character and meditate upon him<\/p>\n
the psalmist lament that we find in<\/p>\n
verses<\/p>\n
38-35 is that God's promises didn't<\/p>\n
match up with what he was<\/p>\n
experiencing in fact they seem like<\/p>\n
Polar Opposites God had promised to<\/p>\n
protect Israel but Israel's walls had<\/p>\n
been broken down by her<\/p>\n
enemies Israel's King was supposed to<\/p>\n
have honor among the Nations but now<\/p>\n
Kings from other nations mock him the<\/p>\n
psalmist is confused because David's<\/p>\n
Kingdom doesn't see seem like how God<\/p>\n
had promised it it would look and part<\/p>\n
of David's appeal to God that we find in<\/p>\n
46-51 is to God's character in verse 49<\/p>\n
he says Lord where is your steadfast<\/p>\n
love of old which by your faithfulness<\/p>\n
you swore to David and so the psalmist<\/p>\n
do doesn't know how to make sense of<\/p>\n
this tension but he still clings to the<\/p>\n
Lord during his time of<\/p>\n
confusion he knows the Lord's character<\/p>\n
character and he knows he will be<\/p>\n
faithful to his<\/p>\n
promises and the words steadfast love<\/p>\n
and faithfulness they are mentioned a<\/p>\n
total of 15 times in this Psalm and so<\/p>\n
they are the the Bedrock or they are the<\/p>\n
the Firm Foundation that all of God's<\/p>\n
promises sit on and we can count on<\/p>\n
God's promises because we can count on<\/p>\n
God's steadfast love and faithfulness to<\/p>\n
his anointed<\/p>\n
one we also know that God is mighty and<\/p>\n
he is working all things out according<\/p>\n
to his great plan and so we can trust<\/p>\n
that God can and will fulfill all of his<\/p>\n
promises that he has made to us in his<\/p>\n
perfect<\/p>\n
timing another thing that we should do<\/p>\n
When we struggle with God's promises is<\/p>\n
to pray honestly for God to act based on<\/p>\n
character one thing that I appreciate<\/p>\n
about appreciate about the the Psalms is<\/p>\n
just how honest the psalmist are with<\/p>\n
the struggles and with the issues they<\/p>\n
have with God God the psalmist like<\/p>\n
Ethan the the azerite are not afraid to<\/p>\n
express strong emotions to God in verses<\/p>\n
38 through 39 he says but now you have<\/p>\n
cast off and rejected you were full of<\/p>\n
Wrath against your anointed you have<\/p>\n
renounced the Covenant with your servant<\/p>\n
you have defiled his crown in the<\/p>\n
dust he is saying to God God it seemed<\/p>\n
like and it feels like you have put an<\/p>\n
end to your Covenant<\/p>\n
in verses 40-45 he again list all the<\/p>\n
reasons he feels this way it's because<\/p>\n
he feels the Lord has done the opposite<\/p>\n
of what he promised he promised the king<\/p>\n
protection but instead of pro providing<\/p>\n
protection God has broken down the<\/p>\n
strongholds that protected<\/p>\n
Israel instead of exalting him among the<\/p>\n
Nations he has made his enemies to<\/p>\n
Rejoice over him the psalmist complains<\/p>\n
that God has gone back on his word he is<\/p>\n
brutally honest with God in the way that<\/p>\n
he feels<\/p>\n
God has promised that these things would<\/p>\n
not happen but in the psalmist mind they<\/p>\n
have and God inspired the psalmist to<\/p>\n
write this Psalm include an honest<\/p>\n
lament like this in it God wants us to<\/p>\n
express our emotions to him even the<\/p>\n
laments that we have about his<\/p>\n
promises we pray honestly to the Lord<\/p>\n
and we pray for God to act based on his<\/p>\n
character in verses four uh<\/p>\n
46-51 the psalmist makes an appeal for<\/p>\n
God to act on the promises he has made<\/p>\n
to David uh and restore the kingdom in<\/p>\n
verse 46 he says how long oh Lord will<\/p>\n
you hide yourself<\/p>\n
forever when the psalmist says God is<\/p>\n
hiding he is saying God is not acting on<\/p>\n
promises in verses 47 through 51 there<\/p>\n
are three appeals that the psalmist make<\/p>\n
to God for God to<\/p>\n
act and these appeals are based on God's<\/p>\n
promises and his<\/p>\n
character in verses 47 through 48 we we<\/p>\n
read remember how short My Time is what<\/p>\n
man can live and never see death who can<\/p>\n
deliver his soul from the power of shol<\/p>\n
in verse<\/p>\n
49 it speaks of God's character Lord<\/p>\n
where is your steadfast love of old<\/p>\n
which by your faithfulness you swore to<\/p>\n
David and then again in verses 50<\/p>\n
through 51 it speaks of God's promises<\/p>\n
remember oh Lord how your servants are<\/p>\n
mocked and how I bear in my heart the<\/p>\n
insults of all the many nations with<\/p>\n
which your enemies mock oh Lord with<\/p>\n
which they mock the footsteps of your<\/p>\n
anointed and so when the psalmist says<\/p>\n
remember these things he is saying act<\/p>\n
upon these things Lord the psalmist<\/p>\n
appeals for God to act uh based on his<\/p>\n
short life God had promised that the<\/p>\n
kingdom of David would last forever and<\/p>\n
the psalmist doesn't see that in his<\/p>\n
generation God had promised that there<\/p>\n
would be a king on the throne of David<\/p>\n
forever and so the psalmist is not<\/p>\n
seeing this he's saying God act remain<\/p>\n
faithful to your character to your<\/p>\n
love he also appeals on the basis of<\/p>\n
other nations mocking God and his<\/p>\n
people God had promised that his people<\/p>\n
would have been exalted would be exalted<\/p>\n
among the other nations<\/p>\n
and then in verse 49 the psalmist brings<\/p>\n
God's character into the prayer once<\/p>\n
again to remind us that our hope for God<\/p>\n
acting is based on his<\/p>\n
character so when we pray for God to act<\/p>\n
based on his character Our Hope in God<\/p>\n
acting and fulfilling his promises are<\/p>\n
strengthened the last thing I want to<\/p>\n
look at um that we should do when we are<\/p>\n
wrestling with God's promises are to<\/p>\n
praise the<\/p>\n
Lord Psalm 89 is book in by worship in<\/p>\n
verse uh four in verse one uh we read I<\/p>\n
will sing of the steadfast love of the<\/p>\n
Lord forever with my mouth I will make<\/p>\n
known your faithfulness to all<\/p>\n
generations and then in verse 52 blessed<\/p>\n
be the Lord<\/p>\n
forever the psalmist doesn't understand<\/p>\n
how God is being faithful to his<\/p>\n
promises while at the same time he is<\/p>\n
experiencing what he is experiencing he<\/p>\n
is seeing the ruin of the davidic<\/p>\n
kingdom it doesn't seem to fit together<\/p>\n
and it doesn't make sense to to him but<\/p>\n
in the midst of his confusion and<\/p>\n
struggling with God's promises he<\/p>\n
worships the Lord because he knows the<\/p>\n
Lord's<\/p>\n
character he knows the Lord's steadfast<\/p>\n
love and faithfulness to his anointed<\/p>\n
one and he will not let what he sees as<\/p>\n
an inconsistency between God's promises<\/p>\n
and his experience keep him from<\/p>\n
praising<\/p>\n
God as we go throughout life we will<\/p>\n
struggle and wrestle with God's promises<\/p>\n
and we like the psalmist may think that<\/p>\n
we see inconsistencies between God's<\/p>\n
promises and what we<\/p>\n
experience at other times we may not be<\/p>\n
content with the kingdom promises that<\/p>\n
God gives us in the here and the now we<\/p>\n
may experience a situation in life that<\/p>\n
is so far what from what God has<\/p>\n
promised to give us in the future that<\/p>\n
it creates this tension that we don't<\/p>\n
know how to<\/p>\n
resolve the promises that he has given<\/p>\n
us now may seem like they are not enough<\/p>\n
and may question in God why he has not<\/p>\n
given us more and promised us more we<\/p>\n
may at times find ourselves saying God<\/p>\n
if you going to give me this great big<\/p>\n
promise in the future this great big<\/p>\n
cake why not just sprinkle a little more<\/p>\n
of that promise as bread clums along the<\/p>\n
way and have you ever felt like this<\/p>\n
before when I first arrived in Thailand<\/p>\n
I I met a a refugee couple from<\/p>\n
Afghanistan and we met for a couple of<\/p>\n
months<\/p>\n
we met once a week to to pray together<\/p>\n
and to study the book of Romans and<\/p>\n
during one of our meetings the husband<\/p>\n
asked me to pray for his wife because<\/p>\n
his wife had lost one of her best<\/p>\n
friends in Afghanistan over the weekend<\/p>\n
her friend was attending a church<\/p>\n
service and a man walked in to the<\/p>\n
church with a bomb strapped to him and<\/p>\n
set it<\/p>\n
off and she asked me why why would God<\/p>\n
allow this to happen to a<\/p>\n
Christian and I can still remember and I<\/p>\n
can still feel the<\/p>\n
I had in my throat as we walked through<\/p>\n
this together uh we talked about how<\/p>\n
this was a great evil and how in God's<\/p>\n
sovereignty it was still part of God's<\/p>\n
plan we talked about God's justice and<\/p>\n
how he allows people to the experience<\/p>\n
the consequence of our sin which is<\/p>\n
physical death on<\/p>\n
Earth we talked about how God never<\/p>\n
promises to keep his people from<\/p>\n
experiencing all attacks of evil on<\/p>\n
Earth<\/p>\n
and we also looked at God's character as<\/p>\n
we have done<\/p>\n
today and at the end of our conversation<\/p>\n
my friend understood everything we had<\/p>\n
talked about in her mind what we had<\/p>\n
talked about about it made biblical<\/p>\n
sense if aan were to give her a theology<\/p>\n
test and there was a question on it<\/p>\n
asking her if there were any theological<\/p>\n
inconsistencies between God's promises<\/p>\n
given in his word and what she had<\/p>\n
experienced she would have have said no<\/p>\n
there are no inconsistencies unlike the<\/p>\n
psalmist who didn't understand how his<\/p>\n
experience and God's promises fit<\/p>\n
together but like the psalmist she would<\/p>\n
have said it sure feels like there is if<\/p>\n
I could put words in her mouth and speak<\/p>\n
for her I think she would have said it<\/p>\n
sure seems like God should promise more<\/p>\n
and do more for his people in the here<\/p>\n
and the now and things like this<\/p>\n
shouldn't happen and my friend was<\/p>\n
struggling with ATT tension that<\/p>\n
couldn't be resoled saw between God's<\/p>\n
kingdom promises that he will F uh fully<\/p>\n
fulfill in the future and her experience<\/p>\n
in the here and the<\/p>\n
now she understood biblically how God<\/p>\n
could allow this to happen but in her<\/p>\n
heart she couldn't reconcile the two so<\/p>\n
the tension<\/p>\n
remained in our time of prayer that day<\/p>\n
it was filled with lament about the<\/p>\n
tension that we all felt um but also it<\/p>\n
was uh a time of of praising the Lord<\/p>\n
and having hope hope in God's<\/p>\n
character and so as we go throughout<\/p>\n
life and we struggle with God's promises<\/p>\n
we need to do as the psalmist has done<\/p>\n
here and bring both our laments and our<\/p>\n
praises to the Lord side by<\/p>\n
side as a psalmist demonstrates When we<\/p>\n
struggle with God's promises we should<\/p>\n
make praising him a<\/p>\n
priority is it always Pleasant is it<\/p>\n
always easy is it always natural no but<\/p>\n
is what our hearts need the most and it<\/p>\n
is what this Psalm encourages us to<\/p>\n
do we know God's character we know that<\/p>\n
he is worthy of honor even though at<\/p>\n
times we can't make sense of his<\/p>\n
promises or understand<\/p>\n
them so brothers and sisters God is<\/p>\n
mighty he is loving he is faithful he is<\/p>\n
righteous and he is just and he has<\/p>\n
provided a righteous King For Us in<\/p>\n
Jesus his son and he finds pleasure in<\/p>\n
him and we can trust Our God to be<\/p>\n
faithful to all that he has promised us<\/p>\n
in him and in times When we struggle to<\/p>\n
believe or to understand his kingdom<\/p>\n
promises let us meditate upon his<\/p>\n
character let us go to him in honest<\/p>\n
prayer and ask him to F fill all of his<\/p>\n
promises and let us give him the praise<\/p>\n
and the honor that he deserves let's<\/p>\n
pray dear heavenly father as we medit<\/p>\n
meditate upon your character in this uh<\/p>\n
Psalm as we look at this hymn of praise<\/p>\n
dear Lord we are amazed by your<\/p>\n
greatness you are Mighty uh you are<\/p>\n
loving you are faithful you are<\/p>\n
trustworthy you are<\/p>\n
reliable so I just pray that you will<\/p>\n
continue to teach us more about your<\/p>\n
character uh teach us more about the<\/p>\n
promises that you have promised to us uh<\/p>\n
in your anointed one your son Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ<\/p>\n
I pray that as we go through difficult<\/p>\n
times in life and as we experience<\/p>\n
things that may uh make us think that<\/p>\n
your promises and the things that we<\/p>\n
experience in life are<\/p>\n
inconsistent I pray that we will turn to<\/p>\n
your character I pray that you will<\/p>\n
strengthen our faith in you and I pray<\/p>\n
that you will strengthen our faith in<\/p>\n
your<\/p>\n
promises we thank you for your steadfast<\/p>\n
love and faithfulness that you've shown<\/p>\n
to us in the sun because you love him so<\/p>\n
much much uh you love us we pray all<\/p>\n
this in Jesus name amen<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20240906","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Kiil2TRapqM","video_id":"Kiil2TRapqM","video_duration":"35:03","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367","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=367"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":368,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367\/revisions\/368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}