1 00:00:08,041 --> 00:00:10,944 Psalm 25. 2 00:00:10,944 --> 00:00:13,947 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul, 3 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:16,850 O my God, in you I trust. 4 00:00:16,850 --> 00:00:18,752 Let me not be put to shame. 5 00:00:18,752 --> 00:00:21,755 Let not my enemies exalt over me. 6 00:00:21,821 --> 00:00:24,958 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame. 7 00:00:25,358 --> 00:00:28,561 They shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. 8 00:00:29,362 --> 00:00:31,598 Make me to know your ways, O Lord. 9 00:00:31,598 --> 00:00:34,567 Teach me your paths. 10 00:00:34,567 --> 00:00:36,403 Lead me in your truth and teach me. 11 00:00:36,403 --> 00:00:38,405 For you are the God of my salvation. 12 00:00:38,405 --> 00:00:41,341 For you I wait all the day long. 13 00:00:41,341 --> 00:00:45,011 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love. 14 00:00:45,011 --> 00:00:46,980 For they have been from of old. 15 00:00:46,980 --> 00:00:48,715 Remember not the sins of my youth 16 00:00:48,715 --> 00:00:52,252 or my transgressions, according to your steadfast love. 17 00:00:52,285 --> 00:00:55,255 Remember me for the sake of your goodness, O Lord. 18 00:00:56,222 --> 00:00:59,192 Good and upright is the Lord. 19 00:00:59,225 --> 00:01:02,529 Therefore he instructs sinners in the way he leads the humble 20 00:01:02,662 --> 00:01:05,665 in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. 21 00:01:05,765 --> 00:01:09,869 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness. 22 00:01:10,270 --> 00:01:13,273 For those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. 23 00:01:13,540 --> 00:01:15,075 For your name's sake, O Lord. 24 00:01:15,075 --> 00:01:18,078 Pardon my guilt, for it is great. 25 00:01:18,478 --> 00:01:21,147 Who is the man who fears the Lord? 26 00:01:21,147 --> 00:01:24,384 Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose? 27 00:01:25,018 --> 00:01:29,422 His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land. 28 00:01:29,856 --> 00:01:31,391 The friendship of the Lord is 29 00:01:31,391 --> 00:01:34,694 for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. 30 00:01:35,361 --> 00:01:39,165 My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. 31 00:01:39,966 --> 00:01:44,571 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 32 00:01:45,572 --> 00:01:48,541 The troubles of my heart are enlarged. 33 00:01:49,242 --> 00:01:51,311 Bring me out of my distresses. 34 00:01:51,311 --> 00:01:55,682 Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. 35 00:01:56,382 --> 00:02:00,587 Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me. 36 00:02:00,587 --> 00:02:03,389 O guard my soul and deliver me. 37 00:02:03,389 --> 00:02:04,858 Let me not be put to shame. 38 00:02:04,858 --> 00:02:07,861 For I take refuge in you. 39 00:02:08,294 --> 00:02:10,563 May integrity and uprightness preserve me. 40 00:02:10,563 --> 00:02:13,133 For I wait for you. 41 00:02:13,133 --> 00:02:15,435 Redeem Israel, O God, 42 00:02:15,435 --> 00:02:18,438 out of all his troubles. 43 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:23,676 Well, good morning and welcome to Christ Community Chapel. 44 00:02:23,710 --> 00:02:25,678 My name is Mike, one of our pastors here. 45 00:02:25,678 --> 00:02:30,049 Really great to be with you on this last Sunday of 2024 46 00:02:30,250 --> 00:02:32,952 for you here in the sanctuary over in East Hall. 47 00:02:32,952 --> 00:02:35,922 Tuning in online. Welcome. 48 00:02:36,156 --> 00:02:38,191 If you don't mind, I thought I would share with you 49 00:02:38,191 --> 00:02:42,028 one of my worst decisions in 2024. 50 00:02:42,662 --> 00:02:45,331 It was back in August and I decided to do a camp out 51 00:02:45,331 --> 00:02:49,002 in the backyard with my two sons, Braden and Kason. 52 00:02:49,202 --> 00:02:50,103 Braden is eight. 53 00:02:50,103 --> 00:02:53,072 Kason was just two at the time. 54 00:02:53,339 --> 00:02:55,708 I had grand visions of this night. 55 00:02:55,708 --> 00:02:58,378 Right? Tent in the backyard, fire, s'mores. 56 00:02:58,378 --> 00:03:01,381 It would be, really great memories. 57 00:03:01,514 --> 00:03:03,383 And it started well. 58 00:03:03,383 --> 00:03:06,152 Emphasis on started well. 59 00:03:06,152 --> 00:03:09,756 Put the tent up, made the fire, roasted the marshmallows. 60 00:03:09,756 --> 00:03:11,191 All was going well. 61 00:03:11,191 --> 00:03:14,427 Around 830 we went into the tent and do a little bit of reading. 62 00:03:14,427 --> 00:03:17,297 Wind down. We would be asleep by nine, right? 63 00:03:18,865 --> 00:03:19,699 Jason is two. 64 00:03:19,699 --> 00:03:20,500 And if you don't know 65 00:03:20,500 --> 00:03:23,803 who Kason is or what he's like, the best way I can describe Kason. 66 00:03:24,337 --> 00:03:27,340 He not a regular cup of coffee, 67 00:03:27,507 --> 00:03:29,042 not a regular cup of coffee. 68 00:03:29,042 --> 00:03:32,779 More like a regular cup of coffee with about 13 shots of espresso poured in 69 00:03:33,213 --> 00:03:33,980 at one time. 70 00:03:33,980 --> 00:03:35,415 Just full go. 71 00:03:35,415 --> 00:03:38,418 His bedtime is 730 and so 830 we were pushing it. 72 00:03:38,685 --> 00:03:40,186 830 became nine. 73 00:03:40,186 --> 00:03:43,189 Still a lot of laughing, a lot of fun. 74 00:03:43,189 --> 00:03:45,758 Nine became 930, a little bit 75 00:03:45,758 --> 00:03:49,262 less laughing, 930 became ten 76 00:03:49,562 --> 00:03:54,701 and there was no laughing, no laughing in the 1010 became 1030. 77 00:03:55,235 --> 00:03:59,706 Whatever the opposite of laughing is, that's what was happening in the tent. 78 00:03:59,706 --> 00:04:01,741 So I had hit my limit as a dad. 79 00:04:01,741 --> 00:04:05,078 I brought Kason inside and he went to bed in his own bed. 80 00:04:05,945 --> 00:04:08,548 Right. And I fell asleep around 1230. 81 00:04:08,548 --> 00:04:09,048 I woke up. 82 00:04:09,048 --> 00:04:10,750 Braden was leaving the tent. 83 00:04:10,750 --> 00:04:12,986 He said he had to go to the bathroom. 84 00:04:12,986 --> 00:04:15,255 A few minutes went by. He didn't come back. 85 00:04:15,255 --> 00:04:17,023 A few more minutes went by. I didn't come back. 86 00:04:17,023 --> 00:04:21,127 So I went inside to check on him to see how it was going, and I went inside. 87 00:04:21,127 --> 00:04:24,130 And where do you think I found my eight year old son, 88 00:04:24,264 --> 00:04:27,834 but sleeping happily and soundly in his own bed. 89 00:04:27,834 --> 00:04:30,003 So now it's 1245, the middle of the night. 90 00:04:30,003 --> 00:04:34,140 Both my sons are sleeping inside and I do what any normal dad would do 91 00:04:34,140 --> 00:04:34,974 in that moment. 92 00:04:34,974 --> 00:04:39,812 As I go back outside and I sleep in the tent all by my self, 93 00:04:39,812 --> 00:04:43,216 my wife asks you the next day, why don't you just come to bed? 94 00:04:43,750 --> 00:04:45,118 And I still have no idea. 95 00:04:45,118 --> 00:04:48,421 I felt like I really had to sleep in the tent that night. 96 00:04:50,390 --> 00:04:53,259 There are bad decisions that we make 97 00:04:53,259 --> 00:04:56,362 that we laugh about, like they make for good stories. 98 00:04:57,363 --> 00:05:01,100 There are other bad decisions we make that we don't laugh about. 99 00:05:02,101 --> 00:05:05,672 We don't even talk about, let alone want to think about 100 00:05:06,773 --> 00:05:10,276 bad decisions that caused us not laughter, but lament 101 00:05:11,010 --> 00:05:14,280 and pain and guilt and shame. 102 00:05:15,381 --> 00:05:19,052 And if there's a world where we can have less bad decisions 103 00:05:19,052 --> 00:05:22,922 that haunt us and more good decisions that help us, 104 00:05:22,922 --> 00:05:25,925 we would sign up for that. 105 00:05:26,259 --> 00:05:29,462 And Psalm 25 is an amazing gift for us 106 00:05:29,796 --> 00:05:32,765 because it's going to show us the way. 107 00:05:32,765 --> 00:05:35,768 So let me invite you to turn to Psalm 25. 108 00:05:35,835 --> 00:05:40,239 If you are new to our church, new to the Bible, we have Bibles, in 109 00:05:40,239 --> 00:05:43,343 front of you, the pews here and in the back of East Hall, 110 00:05:43,710 --> 00:05:47,313 and you can find your way to page 429, 111 00:05:47,313 --> 00:05:51,217 Psalm 25 on 429. 112 00:05:53,753 --> 00:05:56,756 I want to hold out for us one big idea 113 00:05:56,789 --> 00:06:00,793 and then three main points for our time, one big idea 114 00:06:00,793 --> 00:06:03,796 and then three main points. 115 00:06:03,796 --> 00:06:08,368 The one big idea from Psalm 25 for us this morning is simply this. 116 00:06:08,935 --> 00:06:13,106 The best decision is to make it God's decision, 117 00:06:13,806 --> 00:06:15,908 the best decision that we can make. 118 00:06:15,908 --> 00:06:20,546 Not just a pretty good decision or good decision or better than most, 119 00:06:21,414 --> 00:06:25,718 but the best decision you and I can make about what it means 120 00:06:25,718 --> 00:06:29,555 to be married or single, how to spend our money or our time 121 00:06:30,656 --> 00:06:33,092 is to make it God's decision. 122 00:06:33,092 --> 00:06:36,062 God, I'm going to choose to let you choose. 123 00:06:36,062 --> 00:06:39,098 I'm going to decide to let you decide. 124 00:06:39,098 --> 00:06:42,101 That is what is best 125 00:06:42,135 --> 00:06:46,005 and to find our way underneath this one big idea. 126 00:06:46,005 --> 00:06:47,640 I have three points. 127 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:50,643 Three points in this big idea. 128 00:06:50,743 --> 00:06:54,580 First, this big idea gives us three words 129 00:06:55,381 --> 00:06:59,485 to learn, two truths to internalize, 130 00:06:59,819 --> 00:07:02,822 and then one outcome to trust. 131 00:07:03,222 --> 00:07:07,660 Three words, two truths, and then one outcome. 132 00:07:07,894 --> 00:07:09,095 Let's get started. 133 00:07:09,095 --> 00:07:10,263 Point number one. 134 00:07:10,263 --> 00:07:12,565 Three words for us to learn. 135 00:07:13,533 --> 00:07:15,034 We live in a world where we are 136 00:07:15,034 --> 00:07:19,505 given recommendations and suggestions all the time, right? 137 00:07:19,505 --> 00:07:21,240 If you're watching something on Netflix, 138 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:25,178 it's going to recommend or suggest other things for you to watch. 139 00:07:25,178 --> 00:07:29,549 If you are shopping on Amazon, other things for you to purchase, right? 140 00:07:29,582 --> 00:07:33,152 If you're on social media, it's going to suggest or recommend to you 141 00:07:33,453 --> 00:07:36,789 other things, other people for you to follow. 142 00:07:37,590 --> 00:07:41,661 So we are used to a world where we receive recommendations 143 00:07:42,094 --> 00:07:45,097 and then we decide, right 144 00:07:45,198 --> 00:07:49,902 in this day and age is one person put it we are the Caesar 145 00:07:50,603 --> 00:07:54,073 in the Coliseum of our faith. 146 00:07:54,073 --> 00:07:56,042 What a great word picture. 147 00:07:56,042 --> 00:07:57,276 We are the Caesar. 148 00:07:57,276 --> 00:08:01,080 We are the one with the power and the control and the decision 149 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:06,452 making ability in the Coliseum of our lives. 150 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:09,088 It's very easy for that kind 151 00:08:09,088 --> 00:08:12,758 of thinking to bleed over into our faith 152 00:08:13,493 --> 00:08:17,296 and into the Bible, into how we approach God. 153 00:08:18,030 --> 00:08:22,235 God becomes another person who gives us recommendations 154 00:08:22,235 --> 00:08:25,771 for us to sift through, even strong recommendations. 155 00:08:26,005 --> 00:08:28,608 But recommendations none the less. 156 00:08:28,608 --> 00:08:31,410 We can say yes or we can say no. 157 00:08:31,410 --> 00:08:36,048 We are the Caesar in the Coliseum of our lives, 158 00:08:37,216 --> 00:08:41,654 but we find a much different approach to God, a much different posture to God. 159 00:08:41,654 --> 00:08:43,022 In this Psalm. 160 00:08:43,022 --> 00:08:46,025 Look with me at the very beginning, 161 00:08:46,058 --> 00:08:49,862 verse one and the beginning of verse two says to you, O Lord, 162 00:08:50,162 --> 00:08:55,801 I lift up my soul, oh my God, in you I trust. 163 00:08:56,369 --> 00:08:59,138 The psalmist opens with words of conviction 164 00:08:59,138 --> 00:09:01,941 and trust to you, 165 00:09:01,941 --> 00:09:06,846 oh my God, in you I trust he is lifting up his soul. 166 00:09:07,046 --> 00:09:11,884 He is placing his life in the hands of God, saying, in you I trust. 167 00:09:12,118 --> 00:09:14,887 Which means look with me. 168 00:09:14,887 --> 00:09:16,822 Verses four and five. 169 00:09:16,822 --> 00:09:20,626 This is what trusting God looks like for the psalmist. 170 00:09:20,826 --> 00:09:25,531 Verses four and five make me to know your ways, O Lord. 171 00:09:26,232 --> 00:09:29,035 Teach me your paths. 172 00:09:29,035 --> 00:09:32,972 Lead me in your truth and teach me. 173 00:09:33,439 --> 00:09:35,641 That's strong language, isn't it? 174 00:09:35,641 --> 00:09:39,979 Make me literally cause me to know your ways. 175 00:09:40,212 --> 00:09:42,148 Teach me your paths. 176 00:09:43,115 --> 00:09:46,052 Lead me in your truth. 177 00:09:46,052 --> 00:09:49,055 See, the psalmist is looking to God for answers. 178 00:09:49,822 --> 00:09:52,825 He is looking to God for direction. 179 00:09:52,959 --> 00:09:56,128 He is not looking to God for recommendations, 180 00:09:56,128 --> 00:10:00,266 but he's looking to God to make decisions and notice 181 00:10:00,933 --> 00:10:05,438 your ways, O Lord, your paths. 182 00:10:05,438 --> 00:10:11,243 He's not interested in maybe one decision or two decisions, but he's interested in 183 00:10:11,243 --> 00:10:16,115 God making a decision on everything in his life. 184 00:10:16,682 --> 00:10:21,053 If I were to paraphrase the three words the psalmist has learned, 185 00:10:21,387 --> 00:10:26,592 and the three words for us to learn are simply this God, you decide, 186 00:10:27,927 --> 00:10:32,264 God, you decide, not me, but you. 187 00:10:32,765 --> 00:10:35,001 You decide which way I will go. 188 00:10:35,001 --> 00:10:36,936 You decide how I will live. 189 00:10:36,936 --> 00:10:39,939 You decide the path that I take. 190 00:10:40,339 --> 00:10:43,542 God be my guide, be my teacher, 191 00:10:43,542 --> 00:10:47,013 be my decision maker. 192 00:10:49,181 --> 00:10:51,751 When was the last time 193 00:10:51,751 --> 00:10:54,887 that you let God decide? 194 00:10:55,588 --> 00:10:58,591 You simply said to God, it's up to you. 195 00:10:59,025 --> 00:11:00,459 It's your choice. 196 00:11:00,459 --> 00:11:03,462 God, you decide. 197 00:11:04,063 --> 00:11:07,066 You're in the midst of an argument with your spouse, 198 00:11:07,199 --> 00:11:09,769 and you know that you are in the wrong 199 00:11:09,769 --> 00:11:13,172 and you're trying to decide, are you going to apologize first, 200 00:11:13,606 --> 00:11:16,742 or are you going to keep leaning in to your argument? 201 00:11:17,910 --> 00:11:21,180 You've started to make a little bit more money than you're used to, 202 00:11:21,714 --> 00:11:24,750 and you're trying to decide, how much of this do I spend? 203 00:11:25,017 --> 00:11:26,952 How much of this do I give? 204 00:11:26,952 --> 00:11:28,754 And you just said, God, you decide. 205 00:11:28,754 --> 00:11:31,657 I don't really care. 206 00:11:31,657 --> 00:11:33,993 You're struggling with anger, 207 00:11:33,993 --> 00:11:37,163 alcohol, gambling, pornography. 208 00:11:37,630 --> 00:11:42,535 And you're trying to decide, do I confess these sins or do I hide them? 209 00:11:44,737 --> 00:11:47,773 Is it not really, really hard to say? 210 00:11:47,773 --> 00:11:51,477 God, you decide in those moments 211 00:11:52,411 --> 00:11:56,015 it is so difficult to give up that kind of control. 212 00:11:56,015 --> 00:11:58,551 But isn't that what we want? 213 00:11:58,551 --> 00:12:00,853 Isn't that why we gather? 214 00:12:00,853 --> 00:12:03,856 Don't we want to be the kind of people 215 00:12:03,856 --> 00:12:07,993 and the kind of church that looks to God and listens to God and trust God 216 00:12:08,861 --> 00:12:11,864 and says more often, more quickly, 217 00:12:12,331 --> 00:12:18,037 more seriously, God, you decide everything. 218 00:12:18,938 --> 00:12:20,573 How does that happen? 219 00:12:20,573 --> 00:12:22,641 How do we become that kind of people? 220 00:12:22,641 --> 00:12:27,613 And that kind of church brings in my second point, two truths for us 221 00:12:27,613 --> 00:12:30,916 to internalize these three words come 222 00:12:30,916 --> 00:12:34,386 from two truths that we need to internalize. 223 00:12:34,820 --> 00:12:39,658 Now, when I say internalize, I simply mean that an idea would work 224 00:12:39,658 --> 00:12:44,396 its way from our head, all the way down to our heart, right? 225 00:12:44,396 --> 00:12:46,599 With any new idea, we are learning it. 226 00:12:46,599 --> 00:12:47,466 That's in our head. 227 00:12:47,466 --> 00:12:50,269 We are processing it as it makes its way down. 228 00:12:50,269 --> 00:12:52,905 And then it's it finally settles, right? 229 00:12:52,905 --> 00:12:57,777 And we believe it and we have conviction on it, and it is settled deep within us. 230 00:12:58,144 --> 00:13:00,613 It sounds easy. It's a lot harder. 231 00:13:00,613 --> 00:13:05,117 And one of the reasons it's so hard for a new idea to settle deep within us is 232 00:13:05,117 --> 00:13:09,455 we already have existing ideas down there that we need to replace it with. 233 00:13:10,122 --> 00:13:13,125 We already have existing ideas that need scraped out 234 00:13:13,125 --> 00:13:17,696 and replaced for a new idea to find its way down there, right? 235 00:13:17,696 --> 00:13:19,698 It's the idea when you buy a new house 236 00:13:19,698 --> 00:13:24,370 and there's old wallpaper on the walls before you can put paint up, right, 237 00:13:24,370 --> 00:13:27,373 you have to take down the wallpaper, right? 238 00:13:27,373 --> 00:13:30,509 Or if you are grilling in the summertime and it's been too long 239 00:13:30,509 --> 00:13:33,979 since you've actually cleaned your grill, at least you should 240 00:13:34,313 --> 00:13:39,251 scrape out the existing food so you can cook something new. 241 00:13:40,419 --> 00:13:40,953 Let me give you 242 00:13:40,953 --> 00:13:43,923 an example how this plays out. 243 00:13:43,923 --> 00:13:46,225 If I were to tell you that I am 38 years 244 00:13:46,225 --> 00:13:49,228 old, you would be learning that right now 245 00:13:49,528 --> 00:13:52,832 and you'd be trying to process that with how my face looks. 246 00:13:53,732 --> 00:13:56,735 And for that to actually settle deep within your heart, 247 00:13:56,836 --> 00:13:59,805 you'd have to replace the existing idea that I look 248 00:13:59,805 --> 00:14:02,808 28 going on 18. 249 00:14:04,109 --> 00:14:06,745 The only way for new ideas to settle deeply 250 00:14:06,745 --> 00:14:11,283 within us is if it replaces existing ideas that are there. 251 00:14:11,283 --> 00:14:14,753 There are two truth for us to internalize is forever 252 00:14:14,753 --> 00:14:17,756 going to say three words God, you decide. 253 00:14:17,857 --> 00:14:20,659 The first is about ourselves. 254 00:14:20,659 --> 00:14:23,662 Notice the way the psalmist views himself. 255 00:14:24,363 --> 00:14:27,233 He says in verse seven 256 00:14:27,233 --> 00:14:28,968 about himself, remember 257 00:14:28,968 --> 00:14:32,972 not the sins of my youth or my transgressions. 258 00:14:34,206 --> 00:14:35,875 Verse 11, 259 00:14:35,875 --> 00:14:40,579 pardon my guilt, for it is great. 260 00:14:41,180 --> 00:14:44,917 The psalmist is deeply aware of his flaws, 261 00:14:44,917 --> 00:14:48,020 of his issues, of his sinfulness. 262 00:14:48,020 --> 00:14:50,322 His guilt is great, which he knows. 263 00:14:50,322 --> 00:14:53,325 His sins are even greater. 264 00:14:53,359 --> 00:14:56,729 And the phrase that is really interesting is the phrase 265 00:14:56,729 --> 00:14:59,732 the sins of my youth, 266 00:15:00,266 --> 00:15:03,269 the sins of my youth. 267 00:15:03,702 --> 00:15:07,773 Now, youth does not mean age eight or 10 or 12. 268 00:15:08,207 --> 00:15:10,776 It's more like the age of a young adult 269 00:15:10,776 --> 00:15:15,347 18, 20, 22, 25, up to 30. 270 00:15:15,781 --> 00:15:19,184 So the psalmist is looking back at a younger version of himself 271 00:15:19,618 --> 00:15:23,455 five years ago, ten years ago, 15 years ago, 20 years ago. 272 00:15:24,523 --> 00:15:27,459 And he's just shaking his head. 273 00:15:27,459 --> 00:15:29,628 I can't believe I thought that. 274 00:15:29,628 --> 00:15:31,363 I can't believe I said that. 275 00:15:31,363 --> 00:15:33,899 I can't believe I did that. 276 00:15:33,899 --> 00:15:37,269 He is looking and remembering all the bad decisions 277 00:15:37,269 --> 00:15:40,706 that he has made, and he is not laughing at them. 278 00:15:41,941 --> 00:15:44,843 Have you had that experience before? 279 00:15:44,843 --> 00:15:47,846 When you look back at a younger version of yourself 280 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:53,052 and you just shake your head like you can't believe you thought, said 281 00:15:53,052 --> 00:15:56,522 and did the things that you thought said and did, 282 00:15:56,956 --> 00:16:01,727 you look back at your poor judgment and even worse decisions? 283 00:16:02,361 --> 00:16:05,264 Maybe I can put it to you this way. 284 00:16:05,264 --> 00:16:10,069 If you really needed advice today, like you really needed guidance 285 00:16:10,069 --> 00:16:13,539 and wisdom today, would you think to ask 286 00:16:13,739 --> 00:16:18,310 a younger version of yourself I really needed direction, 287 00:16:18,310 --> 00:16:21,547 would I think, to ask 18 year old Mike because I'm 288 00:16:21,547 --> 00:16:24,550 sure he would have the answer? 289 00:16:25,784 --> 00:16:27,353 The first truth. 290 00:16:27,353 --> 00:16:30,055 But he's a work its way from our heads, all the way down to 291 00:16:30,055 --> 00:16:31,924 our hearts is simply this. 292 00:16:31,924 --> 00:16:35,194 We are not as wise as we think we are. 293 00:16:36,061 --> 00:16:37,563 We never are. 294 00:16:37,563 --> 00:16:38,964 We have made bad decisions. 295 00:16:38,964 --> 00:16:41,567 We will continue to make bad decisions. 296 00:16:41,567 --> 00:16:44,303 And so of course, we would let God decide. 297 00:16:45,404 --> 00:16:48,374 The second truth we need to internalize is about God. 298 00:16:48,374 --> 00:16:51,377 Notice the way the psalmist describes God. 299 00:16:52,878 --> 00:16:54,346 Verses six and seven. 300 00:16:54,346 --> 00:16:59,718 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been of old. 301 00:17:00,085 --> 00:17:03,288 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions, 302 00:17:03,522 --> 00:17:06,525 according to your steadfast love. 303 00:17:06,592 --> 00:17:10,129 Remember me for the sake of your goodness, 304 00:17:10,462 --> 00:17:13,465 O Lord, each of us right? 305 00:17:13,465 --> 00:17:18,604 We have certain things that come to mind quickly and easily about God. 306 00:17:19,171 --> 00:17:22,141 And for the psalmist, notice what it is 307 00:17:23,175 --> 00:17:27,513 mercy, steadfast love, goodness. 308 00:17:27,780 --> 00:17:31,083 Actually steadfast love is repeated twice. 309 00:17:31,083 --> 00:17:34,353 The psalmist does not have a high view of himself, 310 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:38,757 but he does have a very high view of God, 311 00:17:38,891 --> 00:17:43,695 that God is full of steadfast love for him. 312 00:17:44,930 --> 00:17:46,732 And notice the phrase here. 313 00:17:46,732 --> 00:17:48,867 Another interesting phrase. 314 00:17:48,867 --> 00:17:51,870 They have been of old. 315 00:17:52,171 --> 00:17:55,174 They have been of old. 316 00:17:55,674 --> 00:17:59,511 The psalmist is looking and thinking and reflecting about God, 317 00:18:00,179 --> 00:18:04,216 and despite his flaws, despite his own sins and bad decisions, 318 00:18:04,216 --> 00:18:09,788 he looks at God and believes that God is full of steadfast love for him. 319 00:18:10,022 --> 00:18:15,060 He believes that God values him, that he is worth something to God. 320 00:18:15,060 --> 00:18:17,329 That God loves him. 321 00:18:18,564 --> 00:18:19,264 So the second 322 00:18:19,264 --> 00:18:22,267 truth we need to internalize is a little bit better. 323 00:18:23,035 --> 00:18:26,038 We may not be as wise as we think, 324 00:18:26,805 --> 00:18:30,542 but we are worth more to God and we realize 325 00:18:31,643 --> 00:18:33,679 we are worth more to God. 326 00:18:33,679 --> 00:18:36,682 I mean, really, it's a tricky combo 327 00:18:36,748 --> 00:18:38,951 to not think highly of yourself, but to think 328 00:18:38,951 --> 00:18:41,954 that God thinks highly of you. 329 00:18:42,721 --> 00:18:44,256 And it's tricky 330 00:18:44,256 --> 00:18:48,393 because for those new ideas to settle deep within us, we have to do away 331 00:18:48,393 --> 00:18:52,798 and replace the existing ideas that have already settled within us 332 00:18:53,132 --> 00:18:56,201 and have been there, perhaps for a long time. 333 00:18:57,369 --> 00:18:59,404 You see, some of us have thought ourselves 334 00:18:59,404 --> 00:19:02,407 wise for too long, 335 00:19:02,608 --> 00:19:04,576 too much success and school, 336 00:19:04,576 --> 00:19:07,579 too much success at work, 337 00:19:08,247 --> 00:19:12,484 and pride and accomplishments have cemented our own sense of wisdom. 338 00:19:12,484 --> 00:19:15,354 Why would I even care what God says? 339 00:19:16,622 --> 00:19:17,856 Some of us have counted 340 00:19:17,856 --> 00:19:20,859 ourselves too unworthy for too long. 341 00:19:21,793 --> 00:19:24,796 Why would God even care about me? 342 00:19:25,030 --> 00:19:28,100 We look at our mistakes and our failures and our sins, 343 00:19:28,767 --> 00:19:31,436 and we say that God loves everyone 344 00:19:31,436 --> 00:19:34,673 as long as everyone does not include me. 345 00:19:35,774 --> 00:19:40,012 Can I just tell you that the hardest doctrine to move from our heads 346 00:19:40,012 --> 00:19:44,917 down to our actually in our hearts is that God loves us? 347 00:19:45,517 --> 00:19:50,355 That God really does love and value you. 348 00:19:51,790 --> 00:19:54,393 The greatest spiritual predicament 349 00:19:54,393 --> 00:19:59,097 each of us find ourselves in is thinking that we know best. 350 00:19:59,097 --> 00:20:03,335 Our wisdom is high, but thinking that God could not care 351 00:20:03,335 --> 00:20:06,338 less about us, our worth is low. 352 00:20:07,372 --> 00:20:09,908 And so how do we replace these existing ideas? 353 00:20:09,908 --> 00:20:14,680 How do we scrape them out so new ideas can settle deeply within us? 354 00:20:15,314 --> 00:20:18,450 But we need to go to a place that can somehow 355 00:20:18,450 --> 00:20:23,689 deflate our sense of wisdom and inflate our sense of worth. 356 00:20:24,289 --> 00:20:29,127 And there is only one place we can go for that, one place that is powerful enough, 357 00:20:30,128 --> 00:20:33,131 and that is the cross of Christ, is it not? 358 00:20:33,699 --> 00:20:35,334 Is it not the cross of Christ 359 00:20:35,334 --> 00:20:38,337 that shows just how bad our decisions are, 360 00:20:38,570 --> 00:20:41,573 just how foolish that we have been 361 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:44,076 showing us how great our guilt is, 362 00:20:44,076 --> 00:20:47,079 and even greater our sins. 363 00:20:47,246 --> 00:20:49,681 It was so bad that Jesus 364 00:20:49,681 --> 00:20:52,851 Christ had to die for us, 365 00:20:54,286 --> 00:20:56,521 but is it not also the cross of Christ 366 00:20:56,521 --> 00:20:59,524 that shows us the great love of God, 367 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:02,561 that we mattered that much to God, 368 00:21:02,561 --> 00:21:05,564 that he valued us to that extent, 369 00:21:05,797 --> 00:21:09,868 that his own son came and did die for us? 370 00:21:09,868 --> 00:21:12,871 When we look to the nails of the cross, 371 00:21:12,871 --> 00:21:16,875 they are meant to puncture our inflated sense of wisdom. 372 00:21:17,509 --> 00:21:20,512 And when we see the blood of our Savior, 373 00:21:21,046 --> 00:21:25,050 it's meant to raise our deflated sense of worth. 374 00:21:26,218 --> 00:21:29,221 It has been my prayer all week long 375 00:21:30,055 --> 00:21:33,058 that God would whisper to us, 376 00:21:33,825 --> 00:21:36,828 you are not as wise as you think you are. 377 00:21:37,562 --> 00:21:40,299 But he would shout, 378 00:21:40,299 --> 00:21:42,601 but you are worth more to me 379 00:21:42,601 --> 00:21:45,504 than you realize. 380 00:21:45,504 --> 00:21:48,507 Three words come when these two truths 381 00:21:48,740 --> 00:21:51,743 are deeply internalized in each of us, 382 00:21:52,711 --> 00:21:55,714 and on some level, you might think that would be enough. 383 00:21:56,715 --> 00:22:00,452 You might think that if we believe that our wisdom is low 384 00:22:00,452 --> 00:22:05,090 and our worth to God is great, then we would say, God, you decide. 385 00:22:06,224 --> 00:22:09,895 But I know from my experience and pastoring 386 00:22:09,895 --> 00:22:14,166 for about ten years, and you probably know from your own experience that actually 387 00:22:14,166 --> 00:22:19,338 making decisions and giving up control to God can be very, very hard. 388 00:22:20,272 --> 00:22:22,974 We even making decisions our own way, 389 00:22:22,974 --> 00:22:26,478 with our own thinking and our own wisdom for a long time. 390 00:22:27,045 --> 00:22:30,582 And we need a little extra convincing that if we actually let 391 00:22:30,582 --> 00:22:33,819 God decide, that would be a good thing. 392 00:22:33,819 --> 00:22:37,622 We need one more thing, which is my third point and outcome 393 00:22:37,923 --> 00:22:41,593 to trust an outcome to trust, right? 394 00:22:41,593 --> 00:22:43,762 We just need to know this is the practical point. 395 00:22:43,762 --> 00:22:47,499 What actually happens if I say, God, you decide 396 00:22:47,666 --> 00:22:51,870 how I spend my money, you decide what kind of marriage I'm to have. 397 00:22:51,870 --> 00:22:56,108 You decide God, what will the outcome be? 398 00:22:57,542 --> 00:22:59,378 There is a very popular 399 00:22:59,378 --> 00:23:03,248 comedy series, kind of mid 2000 called The Office. 400 00:23:03,248 --> 00:23:05,450 I'm sure many of you are familiar with it. 401 00:23:05,450 --> 00:23:08,453 Starring Steve Carell as Michael Scott. 402 00:23:08,687 --> 00:23:11,256 Wildly quirky, quirky, funny 403 00:23:11,256 --> 00:23:14,393 and politically incorrect, office manager. 404 00:23:14,860 --> 00:23:17,629 And there was one episode that I came to mind 405 00:23:17,629 --> 00:23:20,832 when I was preparing for this sermon is he's driving his car 406 00:23:20,832 --> 00:23:23,702 with the other main character, Dwight Schrute, for Michael Scott. 407 00:23:23,702 --> 00:23:24,169 Dwight. Good. 408 00:23:24,169 --> 00:23:25,137 They're driving, 409 00:23:25,137 --> 00:23:28,140 not sure where they're going, but they are keenly focused on the GPS. 410 00:23:29,074 --> 00:23:31,042 They put in the directions, they put in the address. 411 00:23:31,042 --> 00:23:34,045 They are following the GPS wherever the GPS goes, 412 00:23:34,212 --> 00:23:37,082 no matter what. 413 00:23:37,082 --> 00:23:40,018 And so it comes to a point where the GPS says, take a right. 414 00:23:40,018 --> 00:23:42,554 And Dwight is saying, Michael, don't take a right. 415 00:23:42,554 --> 00:23:46,625 And Michael is looking at the GPS and he says, no, I have to take a right. 416 00:23:46,625 --> 00:23:47,559 And he takes a right. 417 00:23:47,559 --> 00:23:49,261 And of course, where do they end up? 418 00:23:49,261 --> 00:23:52,030 But driving directly in to a lake 419 00:23:53,465 --> 00:23:55,367 and on some respect, 420 00:23:55,367 --> 00:23:58,370 I think that is our greatest fear with God 421 00:23:59,104 --> 00:24:02,107 that if we are Dwight and we're sitting in the car with God, 422 00:24:02,107 --> 00:24:06,244 he will drive our marriage and our finances and our life into a lake. 423 00:24:06,244 --> 00:24:10,415 We're not actually convinced that the outcome is good. 424 00:24:11,983 --> 00:24:14,553 Let me show you something at the end of the psalm, 425 00:24:14,553 --> 00:24:17,522 verses 16 through 20. 426 00:24:18,757 --> 00:24:20,392 This psalm is written 427 00:24:20,392 --> 00:24:24,496 by King David, which is an important name to know. 428 00:24:24,796 --> 00:24:27,499 And when he's praying this Psalm, he is not in a good place. 429 00:24:27,499 --> 00:24:28,700 Look with me. 430 00:24:28,700 --> 00:24:31,703 The final few verses 431 00:24:31,803 --> 00:24:34,806 says, turn to me and be gracious to me, 432 00:24:35,373 --> 00:24:37,843 for I'm lonely and afflicted. 433 00:24:37,843 --> 00:24:39,945 The troubles of my heart are enlarged. 434 00:24:39,945 --> 00:24:43,982 Bring me out of my distress, consider my affliction 435 00:24:43,982 --> 00:24:47,052 and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. 436 00:24:47,919 --> 00:24:52,390 Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me. 437 00:24:52,591 --> 00:24:55,560 O guard my soul and deliver me. 438 00:24:55,560 --> 00:25:00,765 Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. 439 00:25:01,066 --> 00:25:03,668 What do we know about his situation? 440 00:25:03,668 --> 00:25:06,671 We know he is lonely and afflicted. 441 00:25:06,872 --> 00:25:09,608 He is in distress with foes 442 00:25:09,608 --> 00:25:12,811 who hate him, and yet he is trusting God. 443 00:25:13,411 --> 00:25:16,414 He is saying, God, you decide. 444 00:25:16,948 --> 00:25:20,018 And the question is, what happens to King David? 445 00:25:20,452 --> 00:25:22,220 What's the next day of his life? 446 00:25:22,220 --> 00:25:23,989 What's the next season of his life? 447 00:25:23,989 --> 00:25:27,626 Where does trusting God take King David? 448 00:25:28,627 --> 00:25:29,294 And this is where we 449 00:25:29,294 --> 00:25:32,931 need to to read the whole Bible together. 450 00:25:33,098 --> 00:25:36,101 The whole narrative together, 451 00:25:36,134 --> 00:25:39,571 because we don't actually have record of what happened the next hour, 452 00:25:39,804 --> 00:25:44,442 or the next day, or the next week or month in King David's life. 453 00:25:45,443 --> 00:25:48,480 But if we fast forward in the Bible and we move ahead, 454 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:51,483 we will realize there's another King David. 455 00:25:51,716 --> 00:25:55,787 There is someone from his line and his family that finds himself 456 00:25:55,787 --> 00:26:00,926 in a very similar situation, saying a very similar thing to God. 457 00:26:01,726 --> 00:26:05,430 The first verse of the New Testament describes 458 00:26:05,430 --> 00:26:09,100 Jesus as the Son of David. 459 00:26:09,601 --> 00:26:14,272 He is a king who is in the line in the family of David. 460 00:26:14,739 --> 00:26:18,977 And we know that there is a moment in a season of his life 461 00:26:19,511 --> 00:26:22,514 where he was exactly like King David in this song. 462 00:26:22,547 --> 00:26:25,717 He was in the garden, hours away from his arrest 463 00:26:25,951 --> 00:26:30,188 and his crucifixion, where he was lonely and he was afflicted. 464 00:26:31,156 --> 00:26:32,490 He was in distress with 465 00:26:32,490 --> 00:26:36,661 foes who hated him and were coming to betray him. 466 00:26:37,829 --> 00:26:40,665 And he's in the garden with the cross only 467 00:26:40,665 --> 00:26:43,535 a few hours away. 468 00:26:43,535 --> 00:26:46,137 And the three words that Jesus says 469 00:26:46,137 --> 00:26:49,140 to the father in the garden, his father, 470 00:26:49,574 --> 00:26:52,043 you decide. 471 00:26:52,043 --> 00:26:54,646 Jesus knew those words. 472 00:26:54,646 --> 00:26:58,483 Looking at everything in his life, he said, father, not my will, 473 00:26:59,117 --> 00:27:00,919 but yours be done. 474 00:27:00,919 --> 00:27:03,922 Father, you decide. 475 00:27:05,156 --> 00:27:08,159 And at first the outcome does not look great. 476 00:27:08,893 --> 00:27:12,263 It seems like God is driving Jesus into a lake. 477 00:27:13,331 --> 00:27:16,201 He experiences betrayal, suffering, 478 00:27:16,201 --> 00:27:19,204 pain and death, 479 00:27:19,337 --> 00:27:21,906 but only for three days. 480 00:27:21,906 --> 00:27:25,410 Three days of suffering, three days of death 481 00:27:25,410 --> 00:27:31,916 gave way to an eternity of glory and joy and life. 482 00:27:31,950 --> 00:27:35,820 It ended really, really well for Jesus. 483 00:27:37,022 --> 00:27:39,224 Perhaps the best 484 00:27:39,224 --> 00:27:42,494 decision Jesus ever made was to say God, 485 00:27:43,561 --> 00:27:45,330 you decide. 486 00:27:45,330 --> 00:27:49,467 I don't know the decisions you have in your mind or in your life right now. 487 00:27:49,701 --> 00:27:53,905 Small decisions, big decisions as you start a new year. 488 00:27:53,905 --> 00:27:56,908 I'm sure you're thinking about lots of things, 489 00:27:57,242 --> 00:27:59,711 but Psalm 25 says, you know what? 490 00:27:59,711 --> 00:28:02,313 This year make it God's decision. 491 00:28:02,313 --> 00:28:07,085 Whatever it is, let God decide and find out for yourself. 492 00:28:07,719 --> 00:28:10,422 The best decision always 493 00:28:10,422 --> 00:28:13,058 is to make it God's decision. 494 00:28:13,058 --> 00:28:16,061 Let's pray. 495 00:28:19,431 --> 00:28:22,067 Father in heaven, you know my own heart. 496 00:28:22,067 --> 00:28:25,503 You know the ideas that are buried within me. 497 00:28:26,071 --> 00:28:30,275 You know the ideas that are buried in each heart of people here. 498 00:28:30,542 --> 00:28:34,512 You know, our struggle to think that we are two wise 499 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:38,216 and yet to unworthy. 500 00:28:38,216 --> 00:28:41,219 And so I pray that you would use this Psalm. 501 00:28:42,153 --> 00:28:44,889 The point is towards your son and your cross 502 00:28:45,857 --> 00:28:48,660 and your good news, 503 00:28:48,660 --> 00:28:51,663 that maybe we are not as wise as we think we are, 504 00:28:51,963 --> 00:28:55,900 but we are worth more to you than we realize. 505 00:28:56,534 --> 00:29:01,706 May that lead us to listen, to trust, and to have you not be 506 00:29:01,706 --> 00:29:06,211 someone who just recommends things but decides things for us. 507 00:29:06,678 --> 00:29:09,547 Would you do that? I pray in Christ's name. 508 00:29:09,547 --> 00:29:10,048 Amen.