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At Sandals Church, our vision is to be real with ourselves, God and others. This channel features sermons and teaching from Pastor Matt Brown and other members of the Sandals Church preaching team. You can find sermon notes, videos and more content at http://sandalschurch.com/watch
Today, we come to Psalm 69 as we pray the Psalms. David writes, save me, oh god, for the floodwaters are up to my neck. Deeper and deeper, I sink into the mire. I cannot find a foothold. I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Any of you might feel like this today. I am exhausted from crying for help. My throat is parched. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my god to help me. Those who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs on my head.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Many enemies try to destroy me with lies, demanding that I give back what I didn't steal. Oh god, you know how foolish I am. My sins cannot be hidden from you. Don't let those who trust in you be ashamed because of me. Don't let me cause them to be humiliated, oh god of Israel, for I endure insults for your sake.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Humiliation is written all over my face. Even my own brothers pretend they don't know me. They treat me like a stranger. Passion for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. When I weep and fast, they scoff at me.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:When I dress in burlap to show sorrow, they make fun of me. But I keep praying to you, oh lord. That's what verse 13 says. Hoping this time, you will show me favor. In your unfailing love, oh god, answer my prayer with your sure salvation.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Down in verse 22, let the bountiful table set before them become a snare. He's now speaking about his enemies. This is a prayer David is making to God about how he wants God to deal with his enemies. Verse 24, pow pour out your fury on them. Consume them with your burning anger.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Let their homes become desolate and their tents be deserted. To the one you have punished, they add insult to injury. Verse 27, pile their sins high up and don't let them go free. Erase their names from the book of life. I am suffering, verse 29 says, and I am in pain.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Rescue me, oh god, by your saving power. Then I will praise god's name with singing, and I will honor him with thanksgiving. For this will please the Lord more than sacrificing cattle, more than presenting a bull with its horns and hooves. The humble will see their God at work and be glad. Let all let all who seek God's help be encouraged.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:For the lord hears the cries of the needy. He does not despise his imprisoned people. Praise him, oh heaven and earth, the seas, and all that move in them. For god will save Jerusalem, and he will rebuild the towns of Judah. His people will live there and settle in their own land.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It is clear from this Psalm, it's a long one, thirty six verses in total, that David is desperate. His cries have been great. He's lost sleep. He says his eyes are swollen. His throat is parched.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He is dealing with people in his life who are accusing him falsely. And not just any people, his own friends accuse him of things that he did not do. And then 11 verse 11 I'm sorry, verse 13, we get a sense of David's waiting. But I keep praying to you, hoping this time you will show me favor. By way of reflection, what an opportunity for us today to consider the ways that we have been waiting for God by praying the same thing over.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Maybe even in just joining us for this exercise, you have found yourself, like, a bit repetitive and that is a good thing. Why? Because waiting forms us and shapes us. Even in the midst of us going through things that are unjust and maybe even dealing with the betrayal of friends who have, you know, spoken lies about us, it leads David, as you can read through Psalm 69, to say very, like, just harsh things about his enemies. Things that would make you and I just kinda cringe like, man, can I say that in prayer?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Can I actually pray that before God? But again, the Psalms are here to give us permission to be honest before God. And I love that even in the midst of David's waiting, there's a resounding confidence that he is the God who hears prayer. It's one of my favorite repeated words and phrases in the Psalms is you are the God who hears prayer. As we've said before, I say again today, our weeping is never in vain and our waiting is never in vain even as we face things that are wrong, that are happening to us.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so, Jesus, we hear you now inviting us to respond with a sense of hope and honesty. Maybe we find ourselves, god, facing people in our lives who have betrayed us. And so we got we we just simply say, how much more? How much longer? Hoping that this time you will hear us.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:But Jesus, we're also reminded that you experienced unanswered prayer in the Garden Of Gethsemane for our sake. And so would you allow us now to also do the same for your sake Knowing that, man, if you can endure it, so can we. And so we look to you now for strength for our day, for strength in the waiting. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.