Looking For Mercy (Psalm 123)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:03.480 Tonight I'm going to read from Psalm one hundred twenty three, a short psalm. 2 00:00:09.949 --> 00:00:17.390 This psalm has been called various things. A Psalm for the eyes. 3 00:00:18.949 --> 00:00:23.739 You'll see why. It's Psalm one, two three. I remember this by 4 00:00:23.780 --> 00:00:28.140 thinking of teachers who say one, two three, eyes on me right, 5 00:00:29.260 --> 00:00:34.219 just a little helpful way to remember what this psalm is about. It's a 6 00:00:34.259 --> 00:00:40.490 psalm one, two three, a psalm for and for the eyes, for 7 00:00:40.609 --> 00:00:45.929 our hearts as well, a song of a sense to you. I lift 8 00:00:45.969 --> 00:00:51.000 up my eyes, Oh you who are enthroned in the heavens, behold. 9 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:55.439 As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the 10 00:00:55.479 --> 00:00:59.759 eyes of a maid servant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes 11 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:03.040 look to the Lord, our God, till he has mercy upon us. 12 00:01:04.469 --> 00:01:08.310 Have mercy upon us, Oh Lord, have mercy upon us, for we 13 00:01:08.430 --> 00:01:14.230 have had more than enough of contempt. Our soul has had more than enough 14 00:01:14.269 --> 00:01:19.659 of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the 15 00:01:19.739 --> 00:01:30.260 proud. Psalm for the eyes, a psalm for our hearts. It's a 16 00:01:30.340 --> 00:01:38.489 short psalm. It's remarkable for being that. It's also remarkable for having such 17 00:01:38.530 --> 00:01:44.329 a sort of single thought. Most Psalms can be sort of summarized in a 18 00:01:44.409 --> 00:01:49.159 way, but a lot of times they'll kind of take you various places, 19 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:55.480 to this image, to that image. It'll describe things in various ways, 20 00:01:55.599 --> 00:02:01.709 but here it's it's very simple, very simple. Martin Luther has a nice 21 00:02:01.790 --> 00:02:07.069 comment about that, which I'd like to read to you, especially in light 22 00:02:07.150 --> 00:02:12.710 of our Sunday school this morning about prayer. The Psalms are, of course, 23 00:02:12.990 --> 00:02:16.780 prayers. Here's what Luther says. He says this psalm is but short 24 00:02:16.900 --> 00:02:23.900 and therefore a very fit example to show the force of prayer need not consist 25 00:02:23.099 --> 00:02:30.210 in many words, but in fervency of spirit, for great and weighty matters 26 00:02:30.330 --> 00:02:35.490 may be compromised in a few words if they proceed from the spirit and the 27 00:02:35.530 --> 00:02:40.169 unspeakable groanings of the heart, especially when our necessity is such as will not 28 00:02:40.330 --> 00:02:46.919 suffer any long prayer. Every prayer, luther rights, is long enough if 29 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:53.360 it be fervent and proceed from a heart that understands the necessity of the saints. 30 00:02:54.879 --> 00:03:00.270 That's very true. I'm Jesus was not very happy about people who would 31 00:03:00.310 --> 00:03:04.430 go on and on and on piling up words. Of course can have a 32 00:03:04.550 --> 00:03:09.189 long prayer that is very holy, God glorifying. Sometimes we need to pray 33 00:03:09.389 --> 00:03:15.460 long prayers. We have examples of Jesus getting up early or staying up late 34 00:03:15.620 --> 00:03:20.699 to pray long prayers or many prayers, or a long period of praying, 35 00:03:20.740 --> 00:03:25.460 however you might put it. The point isn't the length, as Luther points 36 00:03:25.500 --> 00:03:30.289 out, it's the heart, and here we have a wonderful example of that. 37 00:03:30.610 --> 00:03:35.810 Short Psalm from the heart and in from the spirit of God, and 38 00:03:36.930 --> 00:03:40.840 it has this very kind of singular expression, a singular expression from the heart. 39 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:46.960 I would put it this way that above all and in every situation, 40 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:53.919 the godly look up to God in all things that we do, in every 41 00:03:53.960 --> 00:03:59.750 situation we find ourselves. That's to whom we turned. We look to the 42 00:03:59.870 --> 00:04:02.750 Lord, and the Psalm begins that way. To you, I lift up 43 00:04:02.789 --> 00:04:09.669 my eyes. I'm not sure who said it, but someone said it's nice 44 00:04:09.710 --> 00:04:14.780 to have someone to look up to. That's the simple idea, but very 45 00:04:14.860 --> 00:04:20.980 true, isn't it? We feel alone, discouraged by ourselves and weak. 46 00:04:23.060 --> 00:04:29.009 It's frustrating not to have someone to look up to, a place for help 47 00:04:29.129 --> 00:04:34.810 and security and hope. Want to consider the Psalm and in sort of for 48 00:04:35.209 --> 00:04:42.920 little sections. To whom we look from verse one, how we look in 49 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:46.839 verse two, and then in verses three and four, for what we are 50 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:55.629 looking and why we look so first, to whom we look? To God, 51 00:04:56.910 --> 00:05:01.350 to Yahweh to the God who created the heavens and the earth, the 52 00:05:02.310 --> 00:05:10.300 God who told Moses to take off his sandals as he approached that Bush that 53 00:05:10.699 --> 00:05:16.060 wasn't being consumed. God who spoken commanded these people Israel, who told Pharaoh, 54 00:05:16.220 --> 00:05:20.730 let my people go. The God who rescued them and brought them into 55 00:05:20.810 --> 00:05:25.810 the land of Cain in the God who promised a Messiah to come, who 56 00:05:25.850 --> 00:05:31.569 did come and establish the Kingdom of Heaven and promises to come a gun and 57 00:05:31.730 --> 00:05:39.199 bring it into a consummated glory. To this God we are called to lift 58 00:05:39.240 --> 00:05:45.600 up our eyes, you who are enthroned in the heavens. This God, 59 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:49.000 of course, is everywhere. Psalm one hundred and thirty nine talks about this. 60 00:05:49.189 --> 00:05:55.189 There's no place you can go and find yourself without God. There's no 61 00:05:55.670 --> 00:06:00.550 place you can go and and and be apart from him. And yet, 62 00:06:00.069 --> 00:06:03.699 that we might know his dignity, that we might have a sense for his 63 00:06:03.899 --> 00:06:10.100 glory, scriptures often teaches us and talks to us about God who dwells above, 64 00:06:10.980 --> 00:06:14.660 in the heavens or in the places, even above the heavens, and 65 00:06:15.819 --> 00:06:19.970 there's something very instinctual about this as well. We look up. It's a 66 00:06:20.329 --> 00:06:25.529 IT'S A it's a way that we express our hope, our desire, our 67 00:06:25.610 --> 00:06:33.199 extant are expectant, our needs. It's a way that we look for something, 68 00:06:33.399 --> 00:06:38.680 a kind of thing to save us. It seems to be throughout all 69 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:45.560 cultures this kind of need expressed in this way. But why look up? 70 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:51.829 Because we want something beyond ourselves, something bigger than ourselves. We want God. 71 00:06:54.550 --> 00:06:58.389 This is to whom we look to you, I lift my eyes, 72 00:06:58.589 --> 00:07:05.699 you are enthroned in the heavens. This, I think, can be metaphoric. 73 00:07:06.620 --> 00:07:11.259 You don't have to look up in order to look to God. It's 74 00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:15.379 ultimately a look of faith. Right. It's a it's a way that we 75 00:07:15.540 --> 00:07:18.769 look and we'll talk about that in a minute, but I don't want to 76 00:07:18.850 --> 00:07:28.009 discourage you from actually physically raising your eyes to look to the Lord. There 77 00:07:28.050 --> 00:07:32.639 are many examples of this and many people who take this kind of posture. 78 00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:41.120 Our bodies communicate to ourselves, to others, to the Lord. You know, 79 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:45.110 if we are looking down with our hands in our pockets and have a 80 00:07:45.189 --> 00:07:49.670 scowl on our face. It's doubtful. It's doubtful that we'll be looking to 81 00:07:49.790 --> 00:07:57.509 the Lord in hope and expectancy. But if we submit ourselves, if we 82 00:07:57.670 --> 00:08:01.379 bow ourselves, if we put ourselves on our knees or look up to the 83 00:08:01.500 --> 00:08:05.899 heavens and and pray to him, it is a good thing and that is 84 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:11.819 where our help comes from. It comes from above. Remember also in particular 85 00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:16.089 that as we look to God, we are not looking to sort of abstract 86 00:08:16.209 --> 00:08:20.610 power. We are looking to God as he has revealed himself in Christ. 87 00:08:20.610 --> 00:08:24.689 What did we just read in Matthew Eleven? Jesus says only I know the 88 00:08:24.810 --> 00:08:31.320 father, except for the ones that I reveal him. Reveal him too. 89 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:39.519 We Know God through Jesus Christ. And where are we told that Jesus is 90 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:45.269 at the right hand of the Father? It's Colossians puts it in the heavenly 91 00:08:45.389 --> 00:08:52.549 places. Jesus dwells above, and so when we look to him we are 92 00:08:52.750 --> 00:08:58.779 looking to our God, father, son and spirit. We could look in 93 00:08:58.899 --> 00:09:03.860 other places, and many people do. We look to our friends, our 94 00:09:03.980 --> 00:09:11.450 family, government's powers, philosophies, influential books, pieces of art. Sometimes 95 00:09:11.490 --> 00:09:16.450 we look down. If you ever seen a parent there's codependent on their children, 96 00:09:18.490 --> 00:09:22.250 looking for help, looking for finding, trying to find dependency and places 97 00:09:22.370 --> 00:09:28.600 that are beneath them. In a way, we look all kinds of places, 98 00:09:30.519 --> 00:09:35.120 but there's really only one place that we can find true help, everlasting 99 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:43.110 help, and final rest and comfort, and that is from God. Now 100 00:09:43.230 --> 00:09:48.389 how do we look? Well, first we look with faith. As I 101 00:09:48.509 --> 00:09:52.620 said, God is revealed himself in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one who 102 00:09:52.740 --> 00:09:58.539 is ascended above and we put our faith in him as the one who came 103 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:03.179 down to reveal God to us, as a one whose blood was shed to 104 00:10:03.299 --> 00:10:07.289 cover our sins, as a one who now sits at the hand of the 105 00:10:07.409 --> 00:10:13.490 Father in heaven in order to advocate for us. Would we look to our 106 00:10:13.730 --> 00:10:20.649 mediator? We aren't looking to friends and family long ago. We aren't looking 107 00:10:20.809 --> 00:10:26.399 to angels or other or saints, other holy ones of the Lord. We're 108 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:33.080 looking to Jesus, trusting and believing in him as the one who intercedes for 109 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:37.669 us, as the one who came to die for us to secure our salvation. 110 00:10:39.549 --> 00:10:43.509 To use a metaphor that Jesus uses, he is the door. He 111 00:10:43.710 --> 00:10:48.269 is the way, the path in which we come into the household of God, 112 00:10:48.429 --> 00:10:52.740 and so we look to him. This is how we are to look 113 00:10:52.779 --> 00:11:00.179 with, with eyes of faith. Might Remember, or called your called your 114 00:11:00.659 --> 00:11:05.490 minds. Here's thirteen, where it talks about Abraham and those like him who 115 00:11:05.889 --> 00:11:11.610 greeted things from far away. In particular, it talks about ever Abraham sort 116 00:11:11.610 --> 00:11:16.090 of looking forward to this heavenly city that was to come. It's a good 117 00:11:16.169 --> 00:11:22.559 reminder that faith is something that doesn't always see things physically. It sees things 118 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:28.200 in the promises that are far away and in that faith has the power to 119 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:35.870 look farther than the natural eye, and that's quite a spectacular thing. Sometimes 120 00:11:37.549 --> 00:11:43.669 we like to think about animal facts in my house and we are reminded of 121 00:11:43.710 --> 00:11:48.379 the ability of some creatures to be able to see much farther and more clearly 122 00:11:48.179 --> 00:11:54.980 than we can in their natural abilities right. But we have a an ability 123 00:11:56.100 --> 00:12:01.250 that supersedes even the farthest that an owl can see or an eagle, and 124 00:12:01.370 --> 00:12:07.529 that we can see by faith, to be able to see into the heavenly 125 00:12:07.649 --> 00:12:13.490 places where Jesus Christ is seated on his throne surrounded by millions of angels. 126 00:12:16.919 --> 00:12:20.879 That's quite a vision. It's a vision that we don't make up, that's 127 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.879 given to us by God himself. In those very terms, by the way, 128 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:31.070 we are able to look by faith farther than the natural eye, and 129 00:12:31.470 --> 00:12:39.110 that is how we look. We also in how we look. Not only 130 00:12:39.149 --> 00:12:41.750 do we look with faith, but we look with this kind of eagerness and 131 00:12:43.070 --> 00:12:50.179 attentiveness and expectation that's given to us very clearly here in versus, in verse 132 00:12:50.299 --> 00:12:56.500 two. That was how he describes the look, this look of faith. 133 00:12:56.220 --> 00:13:01.370 Behold, the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as 134 00:13:01.450 --> 00:13:05.570 the eyes of the maidservant looks to the hand or to the hand of her 135 00:13:05.649 --> 00:13:09.970 mistress. So our eyes look to the Lord, our God, till he 136 00:13:11.210 --> 00:13:24.159 has mercy upon us. Let's start with this. Hands are very powerful signaling 137 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:30.830 tools. They communicate a lot. You can dismiss someone with your hand, 138 00:13:30.909 --> 00:13:33.629 you can stop someone with your hand, you can call someone over with your 139 00:13:33.710 --> 00:13:39.909 hand, you can show distress and anguish or frustration or anger. You can 140 00:13:39.990 --> 00:13:48.820 do a lot with your hands and in some cultures masters of households, mistresses 141 00:13:48.940 --> 00:13:54.419 of households do exactly this. I came across of one account of a person 142 00:13:54.809 --> 00:14:00.289 describing some time, a long time ago, but some time in Damascus, 143 00:14:01.289 --> 00:14:05.409 and they were noticing how, as they sat there for dinner, the master 144 00:14:05.570 --> 00:14:11.039 of the House was able to signal to his servants with just a movement of 145 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:15.799 the hand, without any words. They'd make a hand movement and all of 146 00:14:15.879 --> 00:14:20.399 a sudden he says, Sherbet was brought in. A few minutes later, 147 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:26.429 another movement and coffee and pipes appear. Makes another movement and sweetmeats, and 148 00:14:26.470 --> 00:14:30.110 I was like this. They're all all the evening. This, these little 149 00:14:30.230 --> 00:14:33.629 movements here and there with, without any words, are expressed and things are 150 00:14:33.710 --> 00:14:39.580 just done. The household is moving and organized and quick. Or you think 151 00:14:39.620 --> 00:14:46.740 about Major League Baseball pitchers paying attention to hand signals or sign language. Have 152 00:14:46.860 --> 00:14:52.169 you ever watched two people speaking in sign language and the intensity in their eyes 153 00:14:52.210 --> 00:14:56.730 as they look to each other, communicating lots of information all at once? 154 00:14:58.250 --> 00:15:03.090 The hands are very powerful and in this context, in this relationship between Masters 155 00:15:03.169 --> 00:15:11.320 and mistresses and their servants, we are given this example as a master says 156 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:16.279 do this, do that, come here, go away and communicates all these 157 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:22.830 things to their servants. So we are to look with that same kind of 158 00:15:22.909 --> 00:15:28.269 expectancy to our Lord and God, and the same way that a servant stands 159 00:15:28.309 --> 00:15:35.070 quietly by and hangs on every movement and wink and facial expression of their master, 160 00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:39.940 we are to hang on the face of the Lord, to wait for 161 00:15:39.139 --> 00:15:43.659 everything that he might show us, no matter how small, no matter how 162 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:50.889 seemingly insignificant it might seem. The world will say all the time, why 163 00:15:50.970 --> 00:15:54.129 is that such a big deal? Do you really have to do this thing 164 00:15:54.210 --> 00:16:00.250 or that thing? Well, yes, it doesn't matter how small it is. 165 00:16:00.450 --> 00:16:04.600 If the Lord said it, we jump to it. That's true not 166 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:08.519 only of his will, but also his promises. No matter how small and 167 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:14.679 insignificant the promise might seem, we jump at the opportunity to believe it, 168 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:18.240 to rejoice in the thing that he's given, to praise him for what he 169 00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:22.629 has done. As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, 170 00:16:22.710 --> 00:16:25.909 as the eyes of a maid servant to the hand of her mistress, 171 00:16:26.190 --> 00:16:30.590 so our eyes look to the Lord, our God, till he has mercy 172 00:16:30.789 --> 00:16:37.940 on us or shows favor to us. George Herbert, the poet, it 173 00:16:38.139 --> 00:16:44.220 said, would often add the words my master every time he said the word 174 00:16:44.259 --> 00:16:51.409 Jesus, as a way to constantly remind himself of his independence from other people 175 00:16:51.570 --> 00:16:59.690 and is of his loyalty to Jesus. My master scripture is full of these 176 00:17:00.129 --> 00:17:06.640 frameworks, these grids for us to understand who we are in Christ. Psalm 177 00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:10.920 one hundred and twenty three puts this one before us, and I want to 178 00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:15.680 ask you, do you think of yourself in this way, as a servant 179 00:17:15.789 --> 00:17:19.990 of the Lord, watching him in his works of creation and providence and his 180 00:17:21.150 --> 00:17:26.349 works of Salvation? Are you watching? Are you listening? Are you paying 181 00:17:26.390 --> 00:17:30.059 attention? Are you hanging on everything that he might do or say, that 182 00:17:30.140 --> 00:17:37.140 you might respond to him? This is how we ought to look and be 183 00:17:37.259 --> 00:17:44.410 expectant as we look on our God. Well, that takes us to number 184 00:17:44.490 --> 00:17:47.970 three. For what are we to look? Of course, for anything, 185 00:17:48.809 --> 00:17:52.890 but the PSALMIST says, particularly for the mercy that he has upon us, 186 00:17:52.890 --> 00:17:57.009 or this could be translated for the favor that he he shows us, the 187 00:17:57.130 --> 00:18:07.880 blessing that he he gives us. There is only one place in all of 188 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:12.549 our lives and all of the world that we will find true and everlasting blessing, 189 00:18:12.589 --> 00:18:18.390 and that's in the favor of the Lord. The Lord does give to 190 00:18:18.470 --> 00:18:23.029 us all kinds of wonderful things in this life. Friends and spouses. He 191 00:18:23.109 --> 00:18:27.579 gives to us of jobs, he gives to US comfortable places to sit and 192 00:18:29.059 --> 00:18:34.859 books to read and shade over our heads. But it all comes from him 193 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:41.009 and it's all a part of his mercy. When the Lord put gives rain 194 00:18:41.130 --> 00:18:47.490 or shade or work or relationships, he never owes any of that to any 195 00:18:47.609 --> 00:18:52.289 of us. It's all of his mercy, all of His grace that he 196 00:18:52.369 --> 00:18:56.119 gives to us. So when we look to the Lord and look to him 197 00:18:56.119 --> 00:19:00.200 with this expectancy and faith, what are we looking for? We're looking for 198 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:07.319 his mercy and for his favor, and this in itself is a real blessing. 199 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:15.349 God often disarms us. He takes away, I think this is a 200 00:19:15.470 --> 00:19:21.069 job John Calvin puts it. Excuse me, he takes away, I'm paraphrasing, 201 00:19:21.109 --> 00:19:26.900 our conventional resources, the typical things that we lean on, the typical 202 00:19:26.019 --> 00:19:30.140 weapons and things that we fight with. Perhaps you've been in situations like this, 203 00:19:30.259 --> 00:19:34.380 you felt in need of something, and what do you do? Well, 204 00:19:34.420 --> 00:19:40.690 hopefully you lift your eyes up and you look to the Lord, and 205 00:19:41.609 --> 00:19:45.089 there's a great blessing in this, because when the Lord takes things away or 206 00:19:45.250 --> 00:19:51.650 teaches us their secondary order of importance, of order of importance. He's teaching 207 00:19:51.690 --> 00:19:56.000 us not to look, not to lean and rely on lesser things. Have 208 00:19:56.079 --> 00:20:00.759 you ever had the experience of trying to use a tool that wasn't a very 209 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:04.799 good tool? I won't name any names, but we all know there are 210 00:20:04.839 --> 00:20:08.990 certain stores that you go to that you buy a tool for a one time 211 00:20:10.190 --> 00:20:12.069 use. Right, you buy it really cheap because you just need it to 212 00:20:12.150 --> 00:20:17.190 work one time to get that bolt off or whatever it is. You know 213 00:20:17.349 --> 00:20:19.470 it's going to break, but if you ever try to use a tool that 214 00:20:19.549 --> 00:20:26.819 you really needed and it's just won't work, it's frustrating. We often, 215 00:20:26.900 --> 00:20:30.339 however, use all the wrong tools and all the wrong ways. We try 216 00:20:30.420 --> 00:20:37.369 to find everlasting peace, salvation, security rest in the things of this world 217 00:20:37.410 --> 00:20:42.769 or, to use Old Testament, language and princes and horses and chariots. 218 00:20:45.690 --> 00:20:48.089 We look to these kinds of things instead of to Christ, who's risen on 219 00:20:48.170 --> 00:20:52.200 high, to our Lord and Master, who can give us everything and anything 220 00:20:52.640 --> 00:21:00.519 that we need. We look to him because he doesn't just command us in 221 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:07.109 things, but he protects us as our Lord, as our master, the 222 00:21:07.230 --> 00:21:14.069 Lord God watches over us and takes care of us. So when we look 223 00:21:14.190 --> 00:21:19.180 to him, in many ways we are looking for him and for his favor 224 00:21:19.740 --> 00:21:26.779 and his supply. Finally, why do we look? Well, this is 225 00:21:26.819 --> 00:21:30.420 expressed in verses three and four. Have mercy upon us, or show favor 226 00:21:30.579 --> 00:21:34.569 to us. Oh Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had 227 00:21:36.049 --> 00:21:41.009 more than enough of contempt. Our soul has had more than enough of the 228 00:21:41.170 --> 00:21:45.849 scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud. 229 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:52.759 This morning, from Romans twelve fourteen, we consider G Jesus Words through his 230 00:21:52.880 --> 00:22:00.119 apostle to purse or to bless those who persecute us. The persecution that the 231 00:22:00.200 --> 00:22:04.589 saints feel today are as similar to the persecution that the saints of old felt, 232 00:22:07.190 --> 00:22:11.390 and the psalmist describes it here with great frustration. We've had more than 233 00:22:11.470 --> 00:22:17.539 enough of contempt. The word is has the idea of being saturated, exceedingly 234 00:22:17.819 --> 00:22:23.740 filled up with this thing, with contempt, with scorn. It's the sponge 235 00:22:23.819 --> 00:22:27.740 in the way, is so full that it's just dripping all over the place. 236 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:33.890 It can't hold any more. The psalmist looks to the Lord and says, 237 00:22:34.210 --> 00:22:37.930 have favor on us, have mercy upon us. We we can't handle 238 00:22:37.970 --> 00:22:45.599 anything else. We are exceedingly full, more than enough of contempt. Our 239 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:53.240 soul has had more than enough of scorn from those who essentially don't think they 240 00:22:53.319 --> 00:22:59.349 need to pray like this, from those who think that they can be at 241 00:22:59.390 --> 00:23:03.309 a's. They are proud and they look down on those who who see their 242 00:23:03.470 --> 00:23:10.869 need. This is one of many reasons that we look to God, and 243 00:23:10.990 --> 00:23:18.099 it's an important one. Oftentimes, we will find ourselves saturated with trouble and 244 00:23:18.259 --> 00:23:23.059 our inner resources and our outer resources are depleted, and when we look out 245 00:23:23.099 --> 00:23:29.170 into the world, all we find are people that are just sort of piling 246 00:23:29.329 --> 00:23:34.210 on, piling on and laughing and mocking and deriding us in our weakness. 247 00:23:37.930 --> 00:23:45.400 They will say to us, look at us, I'm conter, I'm happy, 248 00:23:45.319 --> 00:23:49.160 I'm satisfied, I am at rest, I am at ease. You 249 00:23:49.240 --> 00:23:53.119 need to earn some more money, you need to build yourself a platform that 250 00:23:53.200 --> 00:24:00.230 you might expand your brand, you need to establish yourself in the world. 251 00:24:00.029 --> 00:24:07.869 Then you'll be happy, you'll be like me. But we must not look 252 00:24:07.990 --> 00:24:14.900 to them, we must not put our faith on them. They're seeking our 253 00:24:15.059 --> 00:24:23.450 harm. We must look to God, who desires our good, and that 254 00:24:23.569 --> 00:24:29.970 brings us back to the beginning. To you, I lift up my eyes 255 00:24:30.009 --> 00:24:36.049 above all, above all things, above all things that you might look to, 256 00:24:36.210 --> 00:24:41.720 look to God in every situation. That is where the godly look, 257 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:51.000 especially when they find themselves weak and frustrated and persecuted. I hope that you 258 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:55.430 hear that word and that in Christ, you learn to look to him. 259 00:24:56.750 --> 00:25:00.910 Let's pray, let's lift our eyes up to the Lord.