The Psalms of Ascents

PDF

You know, we live in a culture here in the United States that suffers from short term memory loss and what I mean by that is best given through this example. If you remember, September 11th, you probably remember where you were, what you were doing, when the news came on and we saw the planes crashing into the Twin Towers. The whole world came together in a sense. There was people that had never gone to church before were in churches, praying to God that He would be over the families of these people in this crash. There were people in line giving blood for all the needs that were there. We looked in horror as the ash fell in New York City.

And everyone rallied together and young men joined the military, and people gave their lives to serve, and the uproar of the nation was, let's go to war, let's go to war, let's find those who did this, let's repay them, and so that's what we did. Everyone was excited about that. We watched as the first bombings took place and we just knew we were going to get them, it will only be a matter of days, maybe weeks, maybe months, but we're going to take care of this. Now, 2009, this last election the major outcry of the country was just bring them home, just forget the whole thing, just bring them home, it's over with, let's just let it be.

But the Psalms are not that way. The Israelites remembered what God had done for them. They remembered the things that had happened in their nation and how God had delivered them. And as we read in the Psalms, we read of a people praising God for His sovereign care over their lives. And so that's where we're going to go tonight. You can go ahead and turn to Psalm 121. We're going to spend the bulk of our time in Psalm 130, but before we get to Psalm 130 I want us to look at the context that Psalm 130 is in.

You may be familiar with a group of Psalms called the songs of ascents. The songs of ascents are Psalm 120 to Psalm 134 and Psalm 130 appears in this list. And so, it's important for us to understand, what are these songs of ascents to begin with? Well, just a little bit of background, the songs of ascents were essentially songs that the Jews would sing together as they went to Jerusalem three times a year. The reason that they're called songs of ascents is because, if you know your geography a little bit, Jerusalem is on a mountain, so if you were travelling to Jerusalem, from whatever direction, you would be ascending to Jerusalem. Whether you were coming from the north, south, east, west, you'd be going up to Jerusalem, and so they are the Psalms of Ascents.

There was three major feasts that they would go to Jerusalem for each year, the Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. And these would be the songs that family groups would have sung together and praising God on their journey. I want to look at three of these Psalms before we get to Psalm 130 and my intention here is not to really dive deep into these, but just to give a brief overview so we can understand the context here and what these songs are like. As far as authorship goes, King David wrote four of the Psalms, King Solomon wrote one, and the rest are anonymous.

So, turn with me to Psalm 121, let's read the text together.

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
The Lord will guard your going out and coming in
From this time forth and forevermore.

Notice, in the first line here he says, "I will lift up my eyes to the mountains," and this makes sense. If they would have been on their journey towards Jerusalem that's exactly where their gaze would have been focused, on Mount Zion, as they ascended up to Jerusalem. But he says, I put my eyes on the mountains, but where does my help come from? "My help comes from the Lord." He appropriately recognizes that his help is not in the Temple that he is going to worship at, his help is not in Jerusalem itself, his help is in the Lord who resides there. It is because the Lord lives and has ordained this place as a place where He's going to set His name, that they go to worship there. I lift my eyes to the mountains, but my help comes from the Lord.

And He gives us a description of the Lord. He lists somethings that distinguishes Yahweh, the true God, from the false gods of the other nations. Look at what he says. He says, "My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." He is a creator God. He is God who made something from nothing, the only God, the only one who could create anything. He says, He will not sleep, He will not slumber. He is not a God that we have to wake up. We don't have to ring a bell to get His attention. We don't have to dance around and slash ourselves and light fires. He's always on guard. He's always there. He's always watching, sovereignly controlling.

He says, He'll provide "shade on your right hand." And Steve Lawson points out in his commentary that on this journey heat in this region would have been a major issue. It would have been very hot, it would have been a hard journey for a lot of people as they had to come a long way to Jerusalem. And this is the Psalmist saying, God will protect me, He will provide shade, He will get us there safely. And not only that, but shade on my right hand, the hand of strength, the hand of blessing. Neither the sun or the moon, not during the night, the things that come in the night, the pressures that come in the night, the things that come in the day, God will protect me from them all. "He will keep your soul," the Psalmist says. He's not a God who is only able to protect you physically, He protects the soul, He guards even your soul.

Well, he ends saying, "He will guard your going out, your coming in forevermore." He's a God that sees every aspect of our life. He's not like these foreign idols who have no power, have no strength. He's Yahweh. So just in summary of Psalm 121, the Psalmist boldly declares that his God is not like the false gods of other nations, but is a truly sovereign God who watches over every area of the lives of His people.

Now turn with me to Psalm 124 and this is a Psalm of David. Also, in this section, you see the title there, "A Song of Ascents, of David." Now read this with me.

"Had it not been the Lord who was on our side,"
Let Israel now say,
"Had it not been the Lord who was on our side
When men rose up against us,
Then they would have swallowed us alive,
When their anger was kindled against us;
Then the waters would have engulfed us,
The stream would have swept over our soul;
Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul."

Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us to be torn by their teeth.
Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper;
The snare is broken and we have escaped.
And our help is in the name of the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.

David begins right where he should, "'Had it not been the Lord.'" He doesn't say, "'Had it not been the strength of our army.'" He doesn't say, "'Had it not been our great warriors and their bravery and their courage.'" He says, "'Had it not been the Lord.'" He gives all the credit to the Lord, recognizing the Lord's sovereignty, and he could be talking of one of two things here. He's either talking about a great battle that took place, possibly against the Philistine army, a great foe of the Israelites, or this may actually be a description of the events of the Exodus. Either way, he's glorifying God and saying, had it not been for the Lord, we would not have made it.

He says, "'they would have swallowed us alive.'" This army, whether we're talking about the Egyptians in their oppression over the Israelites or whether we're talking about the foe of the Philistines, either way he says, their power was too great for us, they were more than we physically could handle, "'Had it not been the Lord,'" "'they would have swallowed us alive.'" He says. "'the waters would have engulfed us.'" And you can imagine, as they come out of the Exodus and God parts the sea, he says, "'Had it not been the Lord,'" "'the waters would have engulfed us.'" Instead, they engulfed the Egyptians behind us.

I find it interesting that he ends his Psalm mentioning something that the Psalmist wrote in 121. In verse 8 he says, "'Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.'" He too recognizes where their help came from and comes from, and that He is a God that is creator of heaven and earth. As we learned this morning, He is the God that owns it all, heaven and earth, all things belong to Him. So just in summary of Psalm 124, David gives glory to God for His provision against an otherwise undefeatable enemy.

Now, this brings a natural question to mind, do you give glory to God for the things that take place in your life? Do I? Do we say, "'had it not been the Lord,'" when we look back over the events of our life? Or, do we say, had it not been my degree, I would have never had that door opened to me. Had it not been my wealth, had it not been my charisma, had it not been, you name it. It seems that we all too quickly give thanks to things that really don't matter. The truth is, had it not been for the Lord, you wouldn't be here tonight. Had it not been for the Lord, you would have nothing, I would have nothing. We're to give praise to God for everything in our lives, just like David does here.

And so, if you find yourself in a situation of great prosperity, praise God. Had it not been for the Lord you wouldn't be in that situation. If you find yourself in a situation where you say, man, the plans I had for myself really aren't working out, that's not where I find myself, you too should say, had it not been for the Lord. Even though I don't understand my circumstances, I have it much better than I deserve. God has not given me what I deserve, otherwise I'd be in Hell. So, it is to be our attitude, just like David's, to say, "'Had it not been the Lord,'" who knows where I'd be.

Now, turn with me to one more Psalm before we make our way to Psalm 130. Let's go to Psalm 126, also a song of ascents. And here the author is unnamed, so it's an anonymous author, but read with me what he says, in verse 1,

When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter
And our tongue with joyful shouting;
Then they said among the nations,
"The Lord has done great things for them."
The Lord has done great things for us;
We are glad.

Restore our captivity, O Lord,
As the streams in the South.
Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.
He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Again, we see the Psalmist beginning with God. He says, "When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion." He doesn't say, "When the king at that time thought it was right to let us go back." No, he says, "When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion, we were like those who dream." He said, it was such an amazing experience that it was like we were walking in a dream, we were in a dream world.

And, obviously, he's talking here about bringing the captives back from the captivity in Babylon. And we know there were three different returns, a return under Zerubbabel in Ezra 1 through 6, a return under Ezra in Ezra 7 through 10, and then lastly, under Nehemiah in Nehemiah 1 and 2. And so as the Israelites return he says, "We were like those who dream," it was a dream world for us, we were elated. And look at the results of this, this return. He says, "our mouths were filled with laughter." Instead of mourning, instead of lament, as we read in Lamentations, now their mouths are "filled with laughter," they're excited, they're overjoyed by what God has done.

He says also, we are filled with "joyful shouting," shouting out to God in praise. Unbelievable, I mean, think about it, most of the time when a nation is conquered, it's conquered, that's done, it's over, the nation doesn't return. And here is a nation, by God's grace, who has been conquered and yet it's returning to its land, and the people are rejoicing.

But what I find most interesting comes at the bottom of verse 2, at the end. He says, "our tongue was filled with joyful shouting; and then they said among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them.'" The foreign nations even recognize, from the outside looking in, that God had been gracious to the Israelites. I mean, that's something there when the enemies of God recognize that He's been gracious towards His people. What an amazing act of God. They asked that God would "restore their captivity." What they mean by that is, God restore us to our former glory, restore us the land, restore the temple, that we might worship You, that we might be Your people again.

So we see here God brought His people back from captivity, which caused the Israelites overwhelming joy and gratitude. And that is the theme of the songs of ascents. As we can see the people making their way to Jerusalem, giving thanks to God, recounting all the things that God has done for them as a nation and how He brought them out of captivity, and how He brought them out of captivity again and again and again, from Egypt, from Babylon, and they give praise to God on their journey.

But then we come to Psalm 130, where I want to spend the rest of our time. And this Psalm is different. Psalm 130 is one of seven psalms of repentance. In the Psalms we see seven different times where the Psalmist really focuses in on a prayer of repentance to God. And what I know and hope that you will find, as I have found, is you'll be encouraged in your own walk with the Lord and what it means to repent before God, what it means to have an attitude of repentance.

And this text breaks down into four major points, but let's read the text together and then we'll go through them one by one. Psalm 130,

Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
If You, Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait,
And in His word do I hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen for the morning;
Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is lovingkindness,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
And He will redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.

In verses 1 and 2 we see point one, the Psalmist's prayer, the Psalmist's prayer. Notice the first few words that he gives us there. He says, "Out of the depths I have cried to You." This is not just some inattentive prayer. This is not just some quiet giving of concerns to God. He says, "Out of the depths," out of the very bottom of my soul, deep within me, I call out to God. He says, "I have cried out to You." This is not an inattentive prayer where the Psalmist is going in and out of thinking about his day and what he has to do and then coming back to prayer. No, he is intently focused, something has taken place, some sin has been committed in his life and he's on his knees before God pouring out his heart saying, "Out of the depths" of my soul, God I cry out to you. He's desperate to hear from God.

And the immediate question that comes to my mind is, is this how I react over sin in my life? Is this how you react over sin in your life? When we realize, when we are confronted with God's Word, and we realize that we are doing something that's sin, is it this casual thing we say, I probably shouldn't do that, but I'll work on that, and then we go on about our day? Or do, when we recognize that, do we come before God and say, God, out of the depths of my heart I cry out to you. I am in sin, God. I have offended a holy God. I'm sorry for what I've done.

You know, I'm reminded of a pastor friend of mine who told me recently a story of a lady that came into his office, a lady that had been in the church for 20-25 years, and she came in and she sat down and this is what she said. She said, "Pastor, I've not come to hear what the Bible says. I've not come to get a lecture from you. I've only come to tell you, because I respect you and I've been in your church for a long time, I just want to tell you, I'm leaving my husband. I've filed for divorce. I know what the Bible says, I've had enough, I'm done." The pastor says, "You recognize, biblically, you have no warrant for divorce; you realize that you're in sin to do this?" She said, "I know what the Bible says, my God will forgive me, my God will forgive me."

Friends, that's not repentance. That is not a repentant heart. When we come before God and we say, oh, you know, grace, grace, we're under a covenant of grace, and yes, I screwed up but it's okay, God will forgive me, it will all work out in the end, that's not repentance. That's exactly what Paul says when he says, what, because we're under grace, should we sin more? And he says, no, no, never. We are to come before God recognizing our sin and pray, out of the depths of our heart, God I cry out to you.

And he goes on in verse 2, "Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications." He's not saying that because he thinks that God doesn't hear, he knows God hears. But because of whatever sin it is that he's committed there's been this break in their relationship and he's begging God, he's longing for that intimacy to be restored, and he says, "God, hear my voice." He repeats himself, "Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications." When we see repetition in the Psalms it's a poetic device to emphasize something. He is emphatically saying, "God, hear me!" Just like when, in talking about God, the angels sing, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty." They repeat holy three times because they're emphasizing He's not just holy, He's "Holy, Holy, Holy"; He's holier than anything that we can imagine. Here the Psalmist is repeating, "Lord, hear my cry," I'm pouring out to you. He's being emphatic. "Let Your ears hear my supplications." It's a humble prayer before God.

But now in verse 3 the author turns his attention from asking God to hear and he begins to proclaim truth, first about sin and then about God's forgiveness. And in verse 3 and 4 we have God's forgiving nature. That's point two, God's forgiving nature. Read with me, verse 3, he says, "If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" I want you to think about that. "If You, Lord, should mark iniquities." He's saying, God if you should keep a record of wrongs, if You pull out your tablet on my life, all the thoughts that I've had that have dishonored You, all the acts that I've committed that have dishonored You, if you kept a record of wrongs on all of us, "God, who could stand before you?" It's a rhetorical question. The obvious answer is no one, no one could stand before God.

Turn with me quickly to Romans 3. Paul picks up on this same idea. And this is likely a familiar passage to you. In Romans 3:10, Paul actually quotes from the Psalms, Psalm 14 and Psalm 53, and he gives us an overview of the heart of mankind before God, before coming to Christ. Read with me in verse 10,

as it is written,
"There is none righteous, not even one;
There is no one who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is no one who does good,
There is not even one."

John Calvin, when talking about this doctrine, says, "The right application of this doctrine is for every man to examine, in good earnest, his own life, by perfection of which is enjoined upon us in the law. In this way he will be forced to confess that all men, without exception, have deserved everlasting damnation and each will acknowledge in respect to himself that he is a thousand times undone." When we look at the perfect law of God and when we look at God Himself, and when we look at ourselves, we have nothing to say but, woe is me, I am a thousand times undone before you God. "If you should keep a record of wrongs, God, who could stand?"

I'm reminded of a story of my brother when he was six years old. When he was six years old he went to the refrigerator and mom told him, I bought these chocolate chips because I'm going to make chocolate cookies for a fellowship we're having at the house; you're not to eat these chocolate chips. So, she left the room. She came back, much of the bag was gone, and she asked my brother, "Brad, did you eat these chocolate chips?" "No, I didn't eat them." "Smile." Chocolate chips all in his teeth. Guilty as charged. You know, I think we do that sometimes, we come before God with our lips closed and we think that everything's fine. We come before each other, hey, you can't see it, I look good on the outside to you, you look good on the outside to me, hey, God sees through that, our face is covered with chocolate.

You know, we all fall under the "all's" that Paul was talking about, that all have fallen away, that all have done wrong, there is no one who seeks after God, and I want to say to you tonight, if you have not come to that place where you have genuinely repented of your sins, put your faith in Jesus Christ, that is the testimony of your life today, that God sees you and He says, you are not good, I am not pleased with you, and if you die today in your sins, I have no choice but to punish you forever in Hell.

Thankfully, in verse 4 there is a but. Verse 4 begins, "But there is forgiveness with You," "There is forgiveness with You, that you may be feared." I'm so thankful that the text doesn't end with a condemnation. There is forgiveness with God. God is not only a god that is just, God is not only a god who is angry over sin, He is a god that is good, that is full of compassion and mercy, willing to forgive if the sinner will repent.

You know what I find interesting though, is the line that comes after the first line in verse 4. Look at it with me. He says, "But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared." You know, I would have thought that the whole fear of God would have come from Him marking our iniquities, but that's not the case. He says, the forgiveness is to cause us to fear God. You know, Romans picks up on this same idea in Romans 2:4. Paul says that it is the kindness of the Lord that leads us to repentance. It is God's goodness towards us that causes us to fear Him. It is God's goodness that causes us to repent of our sin, because He's been so gracious. It's not that God is hoarding over us His wrath, although it is there and it is real, and if we refuse to repent then that's all that's left for us. It is that God, in a desire to save, sent His Son, and the offer of forgiveness is what causes us to fear Him. It is the offer of His goodness and His compassion that causes us to say, God, I am a sinner, forgive me, you're such a good God, how could I have done these things to You.

It's much like a Christian father who raises his child in the Lord and often disciplines his son or daughter by spanking them. They learn to fear the rod in one sense, while also knowing that daddy loves them, that daddy disciplines them because he cares for them, that he wants them to honor God and honor him. In the same way God disciplines us and offers us His kindness, and we recognize and we repent because He is so good to us. It's not a fear of God like you get from watching a scary movie or being afraid and waking up from a bad dream. It's a fear of a holy reverence before God, understanding that He is holy and pure, but at the same time has allowed you to sit at the table. What an amazing truth.

The Psalmist moves on now to verse 5. Here we come to our third point, the Psalmist waits, the Psalmist waits. He says in verse 5, "I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope." Now, the question is, what is he waiting for? When I read the text that was the first thing that came to my mind, what exactly is he waiting for? And Steve Lawson brings this out in his commentary as well. He's already received God's forgiveness in verse 4, he's come to God repentantly and then he's thanked God for His forgiveness, so what, here, is he waiting for? Steve Lawson says he's waiting on complete restoration and peace, and I think that that's right on. He is waiting for, he recognizes the truth of God's forgiveness, and he's waiting to be completely restored back to God, repenting before God, waiting on that relationship to be completely restored and the peace that comes from knowing I've been forgiven, all is well, God has forgiven me.

And if you, well, I shouldn't say if you, but when you have sinned before God and you come to Him repentantly, you know what's going on here in the Psalmist's life, you too have come before God realizing that relationship has been messed up because of what you've done, coming to God wanting to restore it, and feeling and knowing that peace that comes from knowing His Word, that if you truly repent He will forgive, and knowing that all is truly well. That's what the Psalmist is waiting for.

Notice, he says, "I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope," "in His word do I hope." Now, the point of that is, in the Word of God, it is here that we read of God and His covenant promises, it is here that we read of God, that He says, if you will repent then I will forgive, and the Psalmist is saying, I hope in Your Word because I know that it says that if I will repent, You will forgive me, and I find great peace and comfort there. It is here we learn of God's character, that He is not only full of wrath, but He's also full of grace and mercy, and so he hopes in the Word.

Now, he gives an illustration in verse 6, an illustration from his day and time that explains with what earnest he is waiting on God. He says in verse 6, "My soul waits for the Lord, more than the watchman for the morning," "more than the watchman for the morning." Now, this could refer to a couple of different things in his life. For one, shepherds would often, and always, keep watch over their flock at night. At night the sheep were more prone to be attacked by wolves or bears or whatever it may be, and so a shepherd, at least one of them, would have had to stay awake to watch over the flock at night, and you can see how earnestly he would have waited for the sun to appear and the danger would be gone and they could go on with their day.

There's a second thing that this may refer to, and I think more likely refers to, each city in this time would have had a wall of protection around the city. And they would have had men standing guard at the city wall at night making sure that no one would come against them. If an army came they could sound the alarm. And there would be somebody on guard different watches of the night. They would switch out throughout the night. And here would stand this guard. And you can imagine as well, how they would have longed for the morning. When you've got the weight of all the people behind you on your shoulders, your kinsmen, your countrymen, and you're watching out for them to make sure they're safe, that's a lot of pressure, and you would long for the sunrise when you would be relieved of your duty.

But for me, what really brings this home is thinking of a story my dad told me of himself. He served in Vietnam, in the Vietnam War. For two years he was there and he often told me of how every fourth night he would have to keep watch with a partner over their camp. And their camp would be surrounded by nine rows of very thick barbed wire, just like we'd see around a prison today, nine rows of that, and to that barbed wire would be tied a string with tin cans, and if even a mouse touched one of those strings the cans would rattle. And at night time you were instructed as a guard that if you hear a rattle at all, you shoot at it, you shoot in that direction. And so, all night long you would hear gunfire in the camp. And every fourth night he would be the one, with a buddy, taking turns every two hours keeping watch, shooting at any noise, because the enemy would often come, they would strip down and try to crawl under the barbed wire, without being noticed, with a bomb or a grenade, and so here you are, the lives of your friends, your comrades, are on your shoulders, and you can imagine, they long for the morning.

In the same way the Psalmist then, longs for the relationship, that he has disrupted, to be made whole once again. He is coming repentant before the Lord, asking and knowing that he will be forgiven. And he's just waiting, "more," he doesn't say, "like the watchman," he says waiting "more than the watchman waits for the morning."

This immediately makes me think of my own life. Do I wait for that? Do you long for that? When you wake up in the morning and something happens and for some reason you didn't get to read the Word that morning, do you long all day to get back home that you might, can spend time in the Word? When you realize that you have done something and offended someone or offended God in some way and you come before Him, are you longing for that restoration to take place? Is that the kind of relationship that you have with God? Does that describe the way that you love God, the way that you care for God, and the way that you want to be in constant communication with Him? Let's survey our lives and say, can we really say that we would wait for the Lord like the watchman waits for the morning, that intently, trusting in His forgiveness, waiting for that restoration? That's to be the picture of our own lives. That's to be the picture of our own love for God and our own relationship with God.

So, the Psalmist comes now to a close in verses 7 and 8. This is the final point, point four, the charge to Israel. After having come before the Lord, after having repented over his sin and recognizing God's forgiveness in all of these things, he now calls on his brothers to do the same. Read with me in verse 7, "O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is lovingkindness." He calls out to Israel, Israel, now you place your hope in the Lord, you turn from your sin, you place all of your trust in Him, and he gives them three reasons for doing this. He says, "For with the Lord there is lovingkindness." In the Hebrew this is the word hessed. Hessed is a very important word in Hebrew. It's the word that we translate lovingkindness or steadfast love and it has the idea of a covenant love that God has for His people, a deep unbreakable love. And he says, "Israel, hope in Him, for with Him is this hessed," this lovingkindness.

Secondly, "with Him is abundant redemption," not just redemption, but abundant, overflowing redemption, more than enough, more than you could ever need to supply your needs. You'll find it there with God, put your hope in Him. And in verse 8 he says, "And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities." If you would only put your hope in Him, if you would only repent and come to Him, there you would find lovingkindness, there you would find redemption, there you would find forgiveness of all your iniquities. There is nothing that God can't forgive. There is nothing that His love and the blood of Jesus Christ cannot overcome, has not overcome, if we would only repent and put our faith in Him.

So, as we close, let me just remind us of three things, three applications. Number one, be thankful, be thankful. Just as the Psalmist would come before God, and we read those first three Psalms and they were recounting the ways God had blessed them. Do you find yourself always focusing in on the things in your life that aren't going the way that you want or planned? Instead, turn that on its head and thank God for all the things He's done for you that you don't deserve, for the fact that you can breathe, for the fact that you can get out of bed, whatever it is, however small you have to get, God has blessed you. And if you are saved, He's blessed you richly, you are rich spiritually before Him. Be thankful and recognize that all that you have came from Him, you didn't earn it on your own, He's given it to you by His grace.

Secondly, repent, repent, just as the Psalmist has spent these eight verses doing, and repenting before God, you too and I need to repent before the Lord and if today you would say I've never repented, then today is the day of salvation, repent and put your faith in the Lord. And if you are a Christian today and you recognize there is some sin in your life that you've been hiding or that you've not fessed up to, today is the day, repent of that, put that away, turn to Him and just like he says to Israel, "with Him is abundant redemption" for you.

Lastly, cultivate an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, cultivate an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, the kind of relationship that says I will wait for you "more than the watchman waits for the morning." And I want to give you three quick ways of doing that. One, read His Word, read the Word of God. It is here that He has spoken. It is here that He does speak to us today. Read the Word of God, learn of Him and learn what He desires for your life, and then do those things. Secondly, think about your sin, think about your sin and how wretched you are, and then think about His grace and how compassionate He is. And trust me, that will prove provide an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. When you realize, I am utterly sinful, I'm a thousand times undone, and He is completely holy, holy, holy, and has forgiven me, I want to know Him, I want to spend time with Him.

Thirdly and lastly, spend time in prayer and not just in prayer and coming to God and asking for a million different things, but sit there and give thanks to Him for being God and for being good. I'm not saying don't bring your requests, He tells us to bring our requests, but spend time just praising Him for being God. These things will help cultivate an intimate relationship with our Savior and our Lord. So I pray that you've been encouraged, rebuked, whatever it was that God needed to do in your heart, I pray that He's done that tonight. Let's just pray together.

God of grace, it is so good just to know the gospel and to know that it is true, and that we can trust in it Father. That You are not just a God who seeks to destroy us, but You are a God who definitely holds accountable for sin, as You should, and You would be right to send us to Hell Father, You'd be good and the angels would sing Your praises, but You chose, Father, by Your grace, to provide a way of salvation for us. And not only a way, but a magnificent way in the death of Your Son Jesus Christ.

And I pray that tonight, this very night, Father, that You would prick our hearts, that we would be conformed to Your image by the power of Your Holy Spirit. And that tonight that You would save a soul, if it be Your will Father, that You would draw them to Yourself sovereignly, God. We confess that You are good, merciful, full of grace, and worthy of our praise and adoration, and we give that to You freely tonight. Thank You for Your abundant redemption. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.