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When the Troubles of Your Heart Are Enlarged (Psalm 25)
8 Plays15 days ago
“The troubles of my heart are enlarged bring me out of my distresses.” -- Psalm 25:17
After hearing her mention that she would like to get back into shape, a friend recommended that Georgene Johnson consider running. So, without any preparation whatsoever, Georgene signed up for the Akron 10K (6.2 miles). Her comment after finishing the race was, “This was not what I signed up for!” Georgene came in 83rd in the women’s division with a time of 4 hours and 4 minutes. For contrast, my son-in-law, just ran in the Cowtown Marathon up in Fort Worth and finished with a time of 4 hours and 44 minutes. Of course, he didn’t run 6.2 miles like Georgene, he ran 26.2 miles.
David must have felt similar to Georgene when he was inspired to write Psalm 25. Of course, it was a delight to see each of his children born into his family. Each one was a blessing. However, later in life his son Absalom became more of a burden to his Dad’s heart than a blessing not just because of his resistance to his father’s authority but rather because of his desire to overthrow it. Yikes! He became way more than a prodigal son, Absalom became a dangerous son. You can read about this in 2 Samuel 16-19. These were dark days for this burdened father.
So, David sat down and composed an alphabetical psalm (one of nine in the Hebrew Hymnbook). He views life in Psalm 25 as a journey down a dark road, (vs. 4, 8, 9, 12). How did he survive the heaviness he felt for his son that he loved? Let’s listen in as he talks to God in prayer and thinks about God in meditation.
Identification of the Troubles that Enlarged His Heart, 25:2-3, 7, 11, 16-20
Exaggeration of the Troubles that Enlarged His Heart, 25:6-8, 10, 17
Delegation of the Troubles that Enlarged His Heart, 25:1-22
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Growing in Grace Devotions and Inspirations
Hosted by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam Street
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Welcome
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message.
00:00:22
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If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, fbccolumbustx.org.
Unplanned Marathon Stories
00:00:32
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And now, take your copy of God's Timeless Word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
00:00:45
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After hearing her mention that she would like to get back into shape, a friend recommended that Georgene Johnson consider running. So, without any preparation whatsoever, Georgene signed up for the Akron 10K.
00:01:04
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Her comment after finishing the race was, "'This was not what I signed up for.'" Georgene came in 83rd in the women's division with a time of four hours and four minutes.
00:01:19
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Now for some contrast, this past weekend, my son-in-law finished the Cowtown Marathon up in Fort Worth. And his goal was, I hope that I can finish in under five hours.
00:01:31
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And so Henry finished in four hours and 44 minutes. But of course, he didn't run 6.2 miles like Georgene. He ran 26.2 miles. So quite a difference.
David and Absalom's Conflict
00:01:47
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You know, David must have felt similar to Georgene when he was inspired to write Psalm 25. Of course, it was a delight Whenever he saw each of his children born into his family, David loved each one, I'm sure.
00:02:02
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Each one was a blessing. However, later in life, his son Absalom, Absalom became more of a burden to his dad's heart than a blessing.
00:02:15
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Not just because of his resistance to his father's authority, but rather because of his desire to overthrow his father's authority. Yikes.
00:02:26
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He became way more than a prodigal son. Absalom became a dangerous son. You can read all about this in 2 Samuel chapters sixteen through nineteen But these were dark days for this burdened father.
00:02:44
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So David sat down and he composed an alphabetical
Psalm 25: A Reflection on Life's Journey
00:02:48
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psalm. Did you know that some of the psalms were written in the Hebrew alphabet right in line, just the way they pronounce them?
00:02:56
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But ah one of those nine alphabetical psalms is this one. This one right here in Psalm 25. He views life in Psalm 25 as a journey down a dark road,
00:03:10
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You'll hear this in verses 4 and 8 and 9 and 12. How did David survive the heaviness he must have felt for his son that he loved so dearly?
00:03:24
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I want you to listen in as he talks to God in prayer and thinks about God in meditation. Here's what it says in Psalm 25. To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
00:03:38
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O my God, in you I trust. Let me not be put to shame. Let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame.
00:03:50
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They shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. Make me to know your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths. Leave me in your truth and teach me for you are the God of my salvation.
00:04:07
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For you, i wait all the day long. Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
00:04:19
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Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions. According to your steadfast love, remember me for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.
00:04:31
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Good and upright is the Lord. Therefore, he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way.
00:04:42
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All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. For your namesake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
00:04:57
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Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. His soul shall abide in well-being and his offspring shall inherit the land.
00:05:10
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The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
00:05:23
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Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I'm lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Bring me out of my distresses.
00:05:36
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Consider my affliction and my trouble and forgive all my sins. Consider how many are my foes and with what violent hatred they hate me.
00:05:48
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Oh, guard my soul and deliver me. Let me not be put to shame for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
00:06:03
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Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles. Isn't that a beautiful psalm? It's a beautiful psalm, and yet when you think about it in the background, there's such a difficult situation going on.
00:06:17
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ah love what he says in verse 17 when he he's just very transparent. And he says, you know what? The troubles of my heart are enlarged.
Identifying and Managing Troubles
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And so he cries out to God and says, bring me out of my distresses.
00:06:34
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I want us to look today and what we should do when the troubles of our heart are enlarged. So let's look at that together. And let me share with you three different things that captured my attention when I was reading this in my own quiet time.
00:06:50
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The first thing is this, the identification of the troubles. You know, before we can resolve a problem in life, we have to first be honest about it and identify what it is.
00:07:04
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Well, David transparently identifies at least three main stressors in this season of his life. Fear, loneliness, and I would add guilt and shame.
00:07:18
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You know, you can see fear behind the words of verse 2 and verse 17 and verse 19. David knew that the conflict with his son, it was real.
00:07:30
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David knew that his son did not intend to lift him up, but to take him down. As a result, the king felt distress. The opposition was many and the opposition was malicious.
00:07:45
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Have you ever been there? What he's describing in verse two, when he says, hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
00:07:58
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So he's beginning to feel like, I don't know. he said, do not. ah Oh, sorry. Let me go back to verse two. He says, oh my God, in you I trust. Let me not be put to shame.
00:08:09
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Let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be ashamed. They shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
00:08:19
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So what he's trying to tell us is, I'm afraid. I'm not sure what these enemies are really intending in my life. But he also expresses loneliness in verse 16 when he says, turn to me and be gracious to me, for i am lonely and afflicted.
00:08:39
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You know, David felt forced to abandon his home and to vacate the throne. He ran into the wilderness to hide, and David's isolation led to loneliness.
00:08:51
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Perhaps that's what's been going on in your life. I don't know the circumstances, but you feel as though you were on an island all by yourself. fear and loneliness.
00:09:02
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He identified those two things, but he also, when you read verses 2 and 3, 7, 11, 18, and shame and he goes back and forth between identifying shame and guilt Is there any difference between those two?
00:09:18
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I believe there is. For example, in verse two and three, he says, oh my God, in you I trust. Let me not be put to shame.
00:09:29
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There's the word shame. Let not my enemies exult over for me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame. They shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
00:09:42
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So there's definitely a reference to shame, but there's something different in verse seven and 11. In verse seven, he says, "'Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions.
00:09:55
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According to your steadfast love, remember me for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.'" And then verse 11, for your namesake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
00:10:08
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You know, maybe when he saw his son's rebellion, he thought about his own sins and he wondered perhaps, maybe it's not his sins that have led him to this point, but my sins,
00:10:21
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I've not been the father that I should have been Absalom. And that's why he is the way that he is. But when he refers to shame and guilt, I think he's wrestling with feelings of guilt over his actions, but shame he felt over his identity.
00:10:40
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You see, one was sorrow for what he had done. The other was agony over who he was. You can see this again in verses 18 and 20 when he says in verse 18, "'Consider my affliction and my trouble and forgive all my sins.'" He's not pointing to Absalom.
00:11:02
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He's pointing to his own life and saying, "'Lord, I know that I blew it in these areas.'" But then in verse 20, he says, oh guard my soul and deliver me.
00:11:13
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Let me not be put to shame for I take refuge in you. You see, he's supposed to be a man of God. And so he was saying, I don't want to be ashamed but because I've been trying to tell people to put their trust in you, to find the refuge in you.
00:11:30
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And so I just think it's very important that we identify ourselves. What's causing these troubles that are in our heart to sort of be exaggerated, to grow, to be magnified?
00:11:42
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And so David just tells us, he leads us actually. If you look at it in that way, he's trying to lead us in the direction, what do we do? Well, first you need to identify what are those troubles?
00:11:55
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So he identified them. But then the next thing is the exaggeration of the troubles, the exaggeration of the troubles. you know he says The location of the troubles in verse 17, where were these troubles that he had?
00:12:11
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Well, we don't have to guess. He said, the troubles of my heart are enlarged, bring me out of my distresses. You know, if we internalize all that we're going going through in life, if we internalize those problems and hold on to them deep within us, you know what happens?
00:12:30
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They can grow in size. They can actually become larger than they really are in life. Jesus accurately diagnosed this enlarging of the heart.
00:12:43
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as none other than worry. Worry. I think that's what he's referring to in Matthew 6, 25 through 34. He said, why are you worrying about things that you can't control, things that that are not going to make a difference? Worry doesn't help you in your life.
00:13:01
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You know, when facing Goliath earlier in his life, David had learned that worry only magnified the reality of his problems, whereas worship magnified the reality of his God.
00:13:16
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Which one do you want to put the focus on? Which one do you want under the magnifying glass that you can make it so much larger, I would want God because he's also a reality. reality I'm not downplaying what's going on in your life any more than I would downplay what was happening in David's life. He he really and truly had a son out of control.
00:13:39
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And so he had to do this. He had to leave the throne and he had to go out into the woods or he would have been killed. But even that doesn't diminish the reality of his God that is there for him. And so listen to David as he exalts the greatness of God through his confessions and his meditations.
00:14:04
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You know how we can displace troubles in our heart?
Focusing on God's Mercy and Love
00:14:09
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by replacing them with truths, truths from God's word. For example, here's what I see him doing in verse six and seven.
00:14:18
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He focuses first on God's mercy. He says, remember your mercy, O Lord. And then he also celebrates God's love. Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love.
00:14:32
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for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions, according to your steadfast love. Remember me for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.
00:14:44
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So you hear what he's saying? mean, he's definitely putting his focus on God's mercy. He's celebrating God's love. But then when you go down into verses seven and eight, he takes another attribute of God, not just God's love and God's mercy, but also God's goodness.
00:15:02
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Sometimes we can get so confused in troubles that we actually begin to question whether God is good or not. Here's what David did, verse seven and eight. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions.
00:15:15
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According to your steadfast love, remember me For the sake of your goodness, O Lord. Good and upright is the Lord. Therefore, he instructs sinners in the way.
00:15:30
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You see what he's doing? I mean, he's saying, yeah, my troubles are real, but so is God. And I believe I'd rather focus on God than on all of these troubles that I'm going through.
00:15:41
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he also mentions God's uprightness there in that verse eight, when he says, God is good, but he's also upright. Good and upright is the Lord.
00:15:53
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I like the balance between that. Some people might wanna just focus on God's goodness, God's mercy, God's love, and not focus on his holiness, his uprightness, his righteousness.
00:16:04
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But then verse 10, he's got one more thing that's going to help displace and bring down to size all those exaggerated troubles. You know what that is? Verse 10, all the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and...
00:16:20
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faithfulness for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. He reflects upon God's faithfulness. That's how we can help the troubles to sort of downsize, to become more truly the size that they really are.
00:16:38
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But I think David gives us one more thing that we need to do in life. Not only identification of the troubles, but we also need to say, okay, are they really exaggerated?
00:16:49
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Are they bigger than they really should be? That's the first two things. But here's the third one, the delegation of those troubles. the delegation of those troubles.
00:17:01
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You know, the the next clause in our key verse where we were saying, you know, that he's he's saying to God, the troubles of my heart are enlarged. And then here's what he says, bring me out of my distresses.
00:17:16
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Bring me out of my distresses. Obviously, the Lord was able to deliver him from the troubles that had formed a stronghold in his mind and in his emotions.
00:17:27
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But how? How did David find the freedom that the Lord really had for him? Well, David had learned something that he applied several times, I think.
00:17:39
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It's written in Psalm 73. So let me just read it for You you can stay there in Psalm 25. But in Psalm 73, verses 16 and 17, here's what he says.
00:17:50
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But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task. Until I went into the sanctuary of God and then i discerned their end.
00:18:06
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That's what it is. He's going in there to worship. He's going in there to put his focus on God, not his focus on all the troubles. You know, at least twice in scripture, we are explicitly told to cast our burdens upon the Lord.
00:18:21
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We're told that in Psalm 55, 22, cast your burdens on the Lord and he will sustain you. And we're told that in 1 Peter 5, 7, cast your cares upon the Lord for he cares for you.
00:18:32
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You see, this is a form of spiritual delegation. Delegation is a management skill that prevents overload. It refers to transferring responsibility for specific tasks from one person to another.
00:18:49
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Long time ago, there was a man named Andrew Carnegie who once said of the practice of delegating to others, no person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit.
00:19:04
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Well, it's the same way in the Christian life. No wonder Jesus invited us in Matthew 11, 28 through 30 to come to him, all who are weary and heavy laden, and he will give us rest if we will just come to him.
00:19:19
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So go to him. I love what it said in an article that I read about run on runnersworld.com.
Spiritual Stretches and Trusting God
00:19:28
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I was wanting to do some running myself.
00:19:30
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So I wanted to learn what are the best stretches. And I found an article called 10 Essential Pre-Run Stretches. Arm circles, leg raises, high kicks, a forward bend, plyometric lunges.
00:19:46
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Well, Psalm 25 contains eight really helpful spiritual stretches that will stretch your view of God and reduce the worries that seem to be stuck within your emotions.
00:20:01
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So why don't you just realize God's got this. Let's just rest in him rather than trying to worry with it all day long. So here's eight quick stretches that you could try.
00:20:13
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I see David trying them and they worked for him. Let's look at verse 1 and 20. I think these verses speak of something called the upward yield, the upward yield.
00:20:24
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Here's what David says. To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. So, you know, yeah, Absalom's out there. Absalom is real, but I'm going to yield these upward toward you.
00:20:36
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i love that. But then you can see in verses two and three, a second stretch. Are you willing to wait for God's best? David said several times throughout Psalm 25, I don't know if it stood out when I read it through so quickly earlier, but he had sort of like a trustful wait.
00:20:55
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He mentions waiting so many different times, like in verse three, when he says, "'Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame.'" Man, that's pretty cool.
00:21:06
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You know, he says ah in verse five, "'For you, I wait all the day long.'" then he tells us that idea of trust when he says in verse 15, my eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
00:21:24
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And verse 21, here he says, may integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you. Listen, waiting on God. is never wasted time.
00:21:35
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So wait and trust him that while you're waiting, he's working. So just relax, let him have it. As a matter of fact, that's the third stretch is prayerful delegation.
00:21:48
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You know, Philippians 4, 6, and 7 tells us we really shouldn't, as believers, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we really shouldn't go through life anxious. He says, "'Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.
00:22:07
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And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.'" Well, David was doing the same exact thing verse 2, 16, in verses 18 through 20, 22.
00:22:22
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Over and over again, we hear him saying to God in prayer, you know what, Lord, I'm to give this to you. Oh, my God, in you I trust. Let me not be put to shame.
00:22:33
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Let not my enemies exult over me. He's praying. He's delegating. He's saying, okay, Lord, I'm going to lay this down at your feet. Have you done that with whatever is really eating your lunch these days emotionally?
00:22:48
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What about this one in verses four and five? Having a teachable spirit. Sometimes, You know, we caused the trouble ourselves. And I think that's what David was maybe wrestling with.
00:22:59
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Maybe he had caused some of these troubles. But here he is saying, Lord, I'm teachable. All I need is for you to just show me what to do. Listen to verses four and five. If you don't know what to do, this is a great prayer for you.
00:23:13
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Listen to this. Make me to know your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me. For you are the God of my salvation.
00:23:24
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For you, will wait all the day long. You know, I believe that God was able to help David because David was teachable. Are you teachable? Listen, the Lord knows what he's doing.
00:23:37
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So being teachable before him is a wise decision. Let me encourage you in the direction of teachability when it comes to your walk with Christ. Say to the Lord, okay, Lord, i don't know what to do, but my eyes are on you.
00:23:53
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i'm looking I'm looking to you. Please teach me. I want to know your way. But then whenever God shows you, hey, you contributed to the trouble that's in this life, well, then why not be penitent in confession?
Confession and Reverence to God
00:24:07
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I see that as the fifth stretch. You can hear David being honest about his sins in verses six and seven. Listen to what he says. Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love.
00:24:20
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for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions. According to your steadfast love, remember me for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.
00:24:33
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You see, he's not trying to smooth over his sins. He says in verse 11, for your namesake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it's great. So he realized, you know, the way I'm gonna be in shape for whatever's coming is to be...
00:24:49
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um going to the Lord in confession of my own sins. You know, the Lord says in 1 John 1, 9, that if we confess our sins, he's faithful. He's just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
00:25:04
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How about this? You ever do any pushups? Man, pushups, the lowly pushups. That's the sixth stretch. Listen to verse nine. See if you can't see David getting down on the ground and pushing up.
00:25:17
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He says, he leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way. I believe David was humbling himself down before God and saying, you know what? I can't control Absalom.
00:25:30
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I'm not going to make all the decisions for him. And so, Lord, I'm just going humble myself before you. And then how about the obedient lunge? The obedient lunge. He says, you know, all the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
00:25:49
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Are you living within the known will of God? And then lastly, I'd say the reverence planks. you he talks about the fear of God. Do you know what planks are? I was asking, how can I help my abs to get kind of toned up?
00:26:03
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And the the guy at the gym was saying, well, you need to do planks. And when he told me and showed me what a plank was, I thought, and that doesn't seem like that would do anything. Maybe that's the way you feel.
00:26:14
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But let me tell you, whenever we have the fear of the Lord, God can do great things in our life. And David knew this. And that's why he was able to say, you know, in this verse 12, who is the man who fears the Lord?
00:26:27
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Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. His soul shall abide in well-being and his offering shall inherit the land. The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him and he makes known to them his covenant.
00:26:42
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So stay humble, stay reverent, stay obedient. You know, confess your sins, be teachable. Turn over in prayer all those things that are burdening your heart.
00:26:54
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Trust him and look to him. Say, Lord, I'm yielding to you. I'm just assuring you that time in the waiting room, time with these stretches, hey, that's not wasted.
00:27:05
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David didn't feel that they were wasted. So let me close us in a word of prayer. Father, thank you so much for all that you've done in our lives. Lord, help us when we encounter troubles, not to allow those to enlarge deep within our hearts and within our emotions.
00:27:23
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Help us to go to you and to trust you with it. We cast all our burdens upon you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Hey friend, thank you so much for joining us and Growing in Grace. I pray you are blessed.
00:27:36
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And if you are blessed, put this into operation in your life. Apply it. If you are blessed, why don't you tell somebody else about the podcast so that they too could be strengthened in the Lord.
00:27:47
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You have a great day in Jesus.
00:28:04
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This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.