Preparation (2)
Notes
Transcript
Handout
We speak tonight again about our Advent season.
We continue the idea of preparation.
How do we prepare for such a season?
As we commemorate the first arrival and look towards the second…what does the prep work look like?
Last Wednesday, we spoke about the idea of not missing the event, by being prepared.
Tonight we speak about dedication, devotion, and direction.
Let’s Read our focal passage from Psalm 37:5-6:
5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
1. What does it mean to commit in our context?
1. What does it mean to commit in our context?
Roll with.
Roll On.
Notice — “Commit…your way to the Lord”
The Hebrew here looks a bit different from the English, but the translators are trying to communicate the heart—beef of original.
It looks like this in Hebrew:
“Roll on Yahweh your way and trust on Him and He will do it.”
Do any of you know this image of Atlas, bearing the world on his shoulders?
I want you to picture this not as though he is more than just a figment of imagination, but to show you a construct of the man or woman walking in the struggle of the weighty world.
The Psalmist is seeking to give the visual of a heavy struggle held upon the shoulder.
2. How do we find relief from the struggle?
2. How do we find relief from the struggle?
“Roll thy way” upon Yahweh.
Can you imagine the Lord lowering His shoulder to receive the weight from our shoulders?
Our preparation for the season is to begin here: roll it on to the Lord.
We spoke about not letting the business keep our attention from the event.
We must not let the stress of the season take the joy of the season.
7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
3. We may ask, “How can a way be rolled like a burden?”
3. We may ask, “How can a way be rolled like a burden?”
It can not.
So the Psalmist is literally communicating the surrendering of our works.
3 Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
We might think of it in this way:
“Roll your doing upon the Lord and He will make it happen.”
So we prepare by giving the heavy lifting over to the One who has the capacity to raise it up.
4. How does this flesh out?
4. How does this flesh out?
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
He will shine thru you.
Walking Away, But In...
Walking Away, But In...
Prepare by giving.
Prepare by leaving.
Prepare by shining.